"I'm TOTALLY on board with Joseph Fiennes playing Michael Jackson [View all]

[Kind of Blue]

IF AND ONLY IF Angela Bassett is cast as Elizabeth Taylor" https://twitter.com/TheOrlandoJones/status/692155486318280704

I thought at first that a white dude playing Martin Luther King, Jr. was an Onion piece but now this.

The actor plays the singer in the comedy about a supposed road trip taken by Jackson, Marlon Brando and Elizabeth Taylor after the 9/11 terror attacks.

Some fans have reacted angrily to the casting, but Fiennes said he thought Jackson was "probably closer to my colour than his original colour."

Fiennes said he believed Jackson - who died in 2009 - had a pigmentation issue with his skin, so the issue of race should not come into play.

"I'm a white, middle-class guy from London - I'm as shocked [about the casting] as you might be." http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-35427381

Really?

The internet has been ablaze questioning the wisdom of Fiennes going forth to play the King of Pop in Elizabeth, Michael and Marlon. But according to the British production cable channel Sky Arts, the casting is a done deal, as the half-hour comedy was shot last year. Though a story surfaced this week quoting Fiennes as if he just received the script “the other day”, the project is already in post-production. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/28/joseph-fiennes-michael-jackson-race-problems-oscarssowhite

BRILLIANT! Ordered my violet contacts & bathed in White Diamonds this morning, so I'm READY! Let's do this! xo! Ang https://twitter.com/TheOrlandoJones/status/692155486318280704 …

But no, the role will not be played by Bassett. Stockard Channing was cast as Taylor.