Actor and comedian Flex Alexander is reflecting on the controversial 2004 biopic Man in the Mirror: The Michael Jackson Story, in which he played the titular King of Pop.
In late November, Alexander was a guest on The Art of Dialogue, where the subject of the upcoming Jackson biopic, Michael, which stars the King of Pop's nephew, Jaafar Jackson, in the titular role, came up.
It was over twenty years ago that Alexander portrayed MJ in made-for-TV film Man in the Mirror, which addressed allegations of child sexual abuse made against the singer.
Alex recounted his "admiration" for Jackson, which encouraged him to audition for the role. Producers allegedly told him that the project would be an "homage" to the 13-time Grammy winner, and claimed that they had had licensing rights to his music.
"So at that time, imagine hearing that and thinking it's going to be like the movie that's coming out with Jaafar playing his uncle," Alexander said at the two-minute mark of the video below. "I'm thinking like that's what it's going to be like."
Alexander said he was given a "nice check" for the role and insisted that he thought the movie would be more of a tribute to Jackson, The entertainer also said that he practiced reciting Jackson's performances in Mirror before lawyers told him that the music's use was unauthorized and therefore wouldn't be included in the film.
Among Alexander's other grievances was the white paint being airbrushed onto him to depict Jackson's vitiligo, and the fact that the Thriller vocalist was insulted by the film.
"He made comments about [the movie]. He was upset, but he never said anything about me or my performance," Alexander said. "He never it was the
allegations and the stuff that was going on at the time that he was upset [with]. [He was] like, 'Why do we have to keep talking about this?'"
Elsewhere in the interview, Alexander shared that he's learned to laugh about the experience, and he even once watched the film on YouTube and admitted it was "pretty bad."
Michael also stars Colman Domingo and Nia Long as Jackson's parents, Joe and Katherine Jackson.