Jaafar Jackson

Jaafar Jackson is the nephew of Michael Jackson — the son of Jermaine Jackson — who played his uncle in the 2026 biopic Michael in his acting debut, after a two-year audition process and casting search (The Daily Star; Parade). Before the film he was a singer and dancer: he began performing at 12, starred in the family reality show Living with the Jacksons in 2015, and released his debut single “Got Me Singing” in 2019 (Parade). His casting was announced in January 2023 by Lionsgate, and the film went on to become the first biopic ever to cross $1 billion at the worldwide box office (The Tribune).

The two-year road to the role

Jaafar did not audition in the ordinary sense — the role found him. On The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in April 2026, he said he first learned a biopic was coming when he read an article online about producer Graham King acquiring the rights to Michael Jackson’s story; two months later King called him for a Zoom meeting, and Jaafar “already had a feeling about what this was going to lead to” (Parade). At that lunch he told King he “never wanted to be an actor” — his real ambition had been professional golf — and that he grew up watching his uncle’s music videos and films (Parade). Six months later King got him an acting coach and scenes to work on, and what followed was a two-year process of auditioning and turning into Michael Jackson (Parade).

The announcement, carried by the Associated Press in January 2023, framed the casting as the outcome of an extensive worldwide search: King said Jaafar organically personified “the spirit and personality of Michael” and was “the only person to take on this role,” while director Antoine Fuqua cited his “natural ability to emulate Michael and such a great chemistry with the camera” (The Daily Star; PEOPLE). The family’s matriarch sealed it: Katherine Jackson said “Jaafar embodies my son,” calling it “so wonderful to see him carry on the Jackson legacy of entertainers and performers” (The Daily Star). The biopic would be an authorized portrait, scripted by John Logan and produced with the cooperation of the singer’s estate (The Daily Star).

A singer and dancer before he was an actor

Born in July 1996 in Los Angeles, Jaafar grew up inside the Jackson family machinery — the second-youngest son of Jermaine Jackson, an original member of the Jackson 5 — but his first dream was golf, not the stage (The Daily Star; Parade). Music pulled him back by age 12, and his pre-biopic career was a steady accumulation of family-adjacent credits: main cast member of Living with the Jacksons in 2015, where he sang Sam Cooke and Marvin Gaye covers; his debut single “Got Me Singing” in 2019; appearances in The Jacksons: Next Generation; and the music video for Tito Jackson’s 2021 single “Love One Another” (Parade).

Year	Milestone
2008	Begins singing and dancing at age 12
2015	Main cast of Living with the Jacksons; Sam Cooke and Marvin Gaye covers
2019	Debut single “Got Me Singing”
2021	Appears in Tito Jackson’s “Love One Another” music video
2023	Cast as Michael Jackson in Michael (January announcement)
2024	Principal photography, January–May (PEOPLE)
2026	Michael premieres April 10 (Berlin), opens April 24 (US)

Filming, he later said, felt “surreal and a spiritual moment at the same time” — hours in the makeup chair under head of makeup Bill Corso, watching himself slowly transform into his uncle, which he called “emotional” (Parade).

A praised debut inside a divisive film

The reception of Michael split cleanly: the performance versus the film. Moneycontrol’s April 22, 2026 review roundup found one clear consensus across early reactions — Jaafar Jackson was the film’s “biggest strength,” praised for an uncanny resemblance and stage presence, with one viewer writing he is “truly making you forget he isn’t the real thing,” while the film itself was called a “sanitized,” overly audience-friendly biopic that avoids the complex aspects of Michael Jackson’s life (Moneycontrol). In the trailer, audiences saw him moonwalking and recreating the “Thriller” choreography opposite Colman Domingo’s Joe Jackson, Nia Long’s Katherine, and Miles Teller as attorney John Branca (PEOPLE).

The film’s final worldwide total was $1,028,706,645 — $372,303,388 from the US and Canada plus $656,403,257 internationally, about 63.8% of the gross — making it the first biopic ever to cross $1 billion, the highest-grossing biopic on record (passing Oppenheimer and Bohemian Rhapsody), and Lionsgate’s biggest release of all time, per Box Office Mojo figures reported by The Tribune (The Tribune). That number is the career-defining frame: for an acting debut, landing at the center of one of 2026’s biggest box-office stories is an outcome no casting search could have promised.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Jaafar Jackson? He is the nephew of Michael Jackson and the son of Jermaine Jackson, born in Los Angeles in July 1996. A singer and dancer from age 12, he played his uncle in the 2026 biopic Michael — his acting debut — after a two-year casting process led by producer Graham King and director Antoine Fuqua.

How is Jaafar Jackson related to Michael Jackson? He is Michael Jackson’s nephew: his father is Jermaine Jackson, Michael’s older brother and a member of the Jackson 5. Michael Jackson’s mother, Katherine Jackson, endorsed the casting, saying “Jaafar embodies my son.”

How did Jaafar Jackson get the role in Michael? He read online that Graham King had acquired the rights, then got a Zoom call from King two months later. After six months of work with an acting coach, he went through a two-year audition process. King said that even after a worldwide search, Jaafar was “the only person to take on this role.”

Did Jaafar Jackson have acting experience before Michael? No. The biopic was his film and acting debut. His background was in music and performance: family reality television in 2015, a debut single (“Got Me Singing”) in 2019, and family music projects through 2021.

What did critics say about Jaafar Jackson’s performance? It was the film’s consensus bright spot: early reactions called it the film’s “biggest strength,” praising his resemblance, dance moves and stage presence, even as the film itself was criticized as sanitized. The movie went on to gross $1.029 billion worldwide — the first biopic ever past $1 billion.

What this profile does not claim

• It does not give his exact birth day or his mother’s name as verified fact; the full-read sources support “July 1996, Los Angeles” and “son of Jermaine Jackson,” and anything more precise is flagged in openItems.
• It does not repeat the “December 2023” casting date found in one retrospective; the announcement record is January 2023.
• It does not score the film’s critical reception numerically; aggregate scores were not read in full.
• It publishes no personal-life details (partners, residences); the sources document a professional career only.

Timeline

• 1996 — Born in July in Los Angeles, California, the son of Jermaine Jackson. (Entertainment press)
• 2008 — Begins singing and dancing at age 12, after an earlier ambition of becoming a professional golfer. (Entertainment press)
• 2015 — Main cast member of the family reality show Living with the Jacksons, singing Sam Cooke and Marvin Gaye covers. (Entertainment press)
• 2019 — Releases debut single “Got Me Singing”. (Major newspaper, via AP)
• 2021 — Appears in Tito Jackson’s music video “Love One Another”. (Entertainment press)
• 2023 — Casting announced in January: he will play Michael Jackson in the Antoine Fuqua-directed biopic Michael, his acting debut. (Major newspaper, via AP)
• 2024 — Principal photography on Michael runs January to May; supporting cast confirmed during the shoot. (Entertainment press)
• 2026 — Michael premieres in Berlin on April 10 and opens in the US on April 24; his performance is widely praised while the film draws mixed reviews; the film crosses $1 billion worldwide in July and closes at $1,028,706,645. (Major newspaper; entertainment press)

What we could not verify

• Parade’s retrospective says his casting was “confirmed in December 2023”; the AP wire and PEOPLE’s record of Fuqua’s January 2023 Variety statement both date the announcement to January 2023. The January 2023 date is used here.
• Lower-tier biographies give his exact birth date as July 25, 1996 and name his mother as Alejandra Genevieve Oaziaza; the full-read sources corroborate only “July 1996” and identify him as Jermaine Jackson’s son. The exact day and the mother’s name are flagged rather than asserted.
• Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic aggregates for Michael were seen only in search snippets and were not fetched in full, so no critic scores are asserted in this profile.
• No full-read source covers his personal life (partners, residences); nothing of that kind is asserted, per living-person care.

Sources

• Michael Jackson’s nephew to star in King of Pop biopic — The Daily Star (AP wire), January 2023 (tier1)
• Michael Jackson biopic cast revealed — The Daily Star, 28 February 2024 (tier1)
• How Michael Jackson’s Nephew Got Major Role in Upcoming Biopic — Parade, 3 April 2026 (tier2)
• ‘Michael’: All About the Michael Jackson Biopic Starring the King of Pop’s Nephew — PEOPLE (tier2)
• Michael Jackson biopic first reviews out: Jaafar Jackson shines as king of pop but faces flak for lack of depth — Moneycontrol, 22 April 2026 (tier1)
• Michael Jackson biopic ‘Michael’ ends theatrical run with first biopic to pass $1bn worldwide — The Tribune (Pakistan), 2026 (tier1)