Making Michael was very personal, says Jaafar Jackson

Jaafar Jackson found making the Michael Jackson biopic to be a "very personal" experience.

The 30-year-old actor played the chart-topping icon in Michael, the record-breaking biography film, and Jaafar admits that portraying his real-life uncle on-screen meant a lot to him and his family.

The actor told Variety: "Of course it’d be very personal, making a film about your own family and then having them watch it.

"I remember being really nervous about my family going to see it. I didn’t know if I wanted to sit there with them, because I didn’t want to be in my own head about what they thought of my performance. I just wanted them to enjoy it for themselves."

Despite his own nervousness, Jaafar ultimately found that his family were incredibly supportive of the film project.

He said: "Seeing a film about your own family can make a lot of people uncomfortable because you have your own idea of what that is, and it’s hard to capture it in a two-hour film.

"But the response I got from my family was incredible, and it made me emotional to get those phone calls from my cousins, even my younger cousins who are 12 and 13 and my uncles and aunts.

"They were so supportive, and I was happy I could bring that emotion out in them and bring them together to experience it."

Jaafar previously explained that he hoped Michael would change opinions of his late uncle, who passed away in June 2009, aged 50.

He told Interview magazine: "I'm most excited about people getting to understand Michael from a point of view they haven't seen before, to feel the quiet moments. Because a lot of people are familiar with the iconic moments, but there's a whole emotional layer that hasn't ever really been seen."

Jaafar, who had never acted before taking on the role, kept his casting secret from his family for a full year, including his mother.

He said: "When my mom saw it on-screen, it blew her away. It was hard for her to connect it to me, so it was very emotional for her."

To prepare for the role, Jaafar moved back into Hayvenhurst — the Jackson family home where he grew up — setting up a research room and training in the dance studio where Michael once rehearsed.

He said: "I set up Hayvenhurst, which is a family home that they lived and grew up in, and I grew up in. I lived there for 15 years. I went back there and created a research room. There was a dance room where Michael used to train. I started training there, and I slept in many different rooms in the house just to feel the energy."