Colman Domingo Defends Michael

Michael is still raking in millions of dollars day by day at the box office, but the specter of what the movie might have been still hangs over its head. Colman Domingo, who plays Michael Jackson’s abusive father, Joe Jackson, in the film, defended the film’s focus, ending right during the Bad era in 1988, before Jackson was accused of pedophilia. “[The movie] has become an examination of how Michael became Michael, before we deal with anything else,” Domingo told The Hollywood Reporter in today’s cover story. “Everyone thinks there’s one way to tell his story, and there isn’t. One can’t deny Michael’s genius and his extraordinary legacy in the music industry.”

Domingo also acknowledged reporting that the film was rewritten after it finished shooting. The film originally claimed the Chandler family, who accused Michael Jackson of child molestation, were making it up for money. The Jackson estate realized after shooting that Jackson’s settlement deal with the Chandlers barred the estate from ever depicting the Chandlers on film. “This was not an easy shoot, I will not shy away from that,” Domingo told THR. He added, “Every time the film was changing in some way, shape or form, there were discussions with me just to make sure that we’re clear about the story we’re telling.”

Now, Domingo has to decide whether to join for an expected second film, which would have to deal with those accusations in some way. “I will want to know what story we will be telling in part two,” he says. So will the Chandlers’ lawyer, probably.