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London — Joseph Fiennes will star as Michael Jackson in a one-off TV comedy set to broadcast later this year — a casting decision that has added fuel to a raging debate about opportunities for non-white actors in movies and TV.
The white British star of Shakespeare in Love plays the black King of Pop in Elizabeth, Michael and Marlon, alongside Stockard Channing as Elizabeth Taylor and Brian Cox as Marlon Brando.
The script is based on a — possibly fictitious — road trip the three stars are rumored to have made in an attempt to leave New York after the September 11 attacks.
Sky Arts, which commissioned the drama, confirmed the casting and said Wednesday that the show is in post-production and is due to air in 2016. The channel said it was "part of a series of comedies about unlikely stories from arts and cultural history."
The casting news comes amid a debate about lack of diversity in Hollywood, sparked by an all-white slate of Academy Awards acting nominees.
Iranian-British comedian Shappi Khorsandi tweeted:
Joseph Fiennes is playing Michael Jackson? Fab. Now we can all shut up about lack of diversity.
— Shappi Khorsandi (@ShappiKhorsandi) January 27, 2016Sky said the network "puts the integrity of the creative vision at the heart of all its original commissions."
"We believe in giving producers the creative freedom to cast roles as they wish, within the diversity framework which we have set," Sky said in a statement released by a spokeswoman.
Fiennes' agent did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Here's how Twitter reacted to him being cast.
“Joseph Fiennes to play Michael Jackson in 9/11 road-trip drama.” By the end of that headline, I’d nearly forgotten about the race part.
— Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) January 26, 2016If Joseph Fiennes can't pop and snatch it like this, I'm not here for it... https://t.co/TVYxbEmHMk pic.twitter.com/FJqRBxir1F
— Charles M. Blow (@CharlesMBlow) January 27, 2016Some1 tell me why they hired #JosephFiennes to play MJ & dont tell me it's because he looks like him cause he has no MJ features whatsoever!
— Smelly Rhythm? (@MJicecream_) January 27, 2016Too crazy for words! #JosephFiennes playing Michael Jackson! What next? Tom Cruise playing Muhammad Ali? Uma Thurman playing Rosa Parks?
— Duncan Whitehead (@DuncanWhitehead) January 27, 2016I just read on Twitter that #JosephFiennes is going to portray Michael Jackson but I must be drunk or high because that's ludicrous.
— Mary Ann McIntosh (@sevenof9fl) January 27, 2016#JosephFiennes to play #MichaelJackson in a Sky Arts Drama is a hoax right? Or there is another Joseph Fiennes? https://t.co/7cFEIvHNof
— CampbellX (@CampbellX) January 25, 2016Remember, this is not Joseph Fiennes' fault. I'd play Michael Jackson too if someone offered me the role. Crazy that execs signed off on him
— Jeff Sneider (@TheInSneider) January 27, 2016
