(CNN) – Although the project was never released, the fact that Joseph Fiennes played Michael Jackson in 2017 sparked controversy over glossing over the character.
Now the actor has expressed his regret at landing the role of the music icon in an episode of the Urban Myths anthology series. The episode, which did not air, was about Jackson, Marlon Brando (played by Brian Cox) and Elizabeth Taylor (played by Stockard Channing) who allegedly went on a cross-country road trip after 9/11.
In a recent interview with The Guardian, Fiennes addressed the backlash against his election.
“I think people are absolutely right when they’re upset,” Fiennes said.
“And it was a wrong decision. Definitely,” he said. “And I’m a part of that: there’s producers, broadcasters, writers, directors, everyone’s involved in these decisions. But if I’m being honest, obviously I’ve become a voice for other people.
Joseph Fiennes in 2019.
(Credit: Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Turner)
“I would love if they could sit down and talk about it too,” Fiennes added. “But, you know, it came at a time when there was movement and change, and that was good, and it was, you know, a bad decision. A grave mistake.”
Due to the uproar, the episode was pulled before it aired, with Fiennes taking some credit for it during his interview.
“I asked the production company to take the film off the air,” he said. “And there were some pretty big discussions, but ultimately people made the right decision.
Fiennes initially defended the decision in a 2016 interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
“It’s Michael in his final days that I have to say he looked very different than he did when we grew up with him in the ’80s or earlier,” Fiennes said at the time. “The decision with the cast and producers: I’ve spoken out about it, confused and surprised at what might be in store for me, and I knew the sensitivity, especially to Michael’s fans and Michael’s family. He doesn’t deny who he was.
In a 1993 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Jackson dismissed the idea of having a white actor play him on screen. Winfrey had asked him about reports that he wanted Pepsi to hire a white actor to play him in a commercial as a kid.
“It’s so stupid,” Jackson said at the time. “This is the most ridiculous and terrifying story I’ve ever heard. It’s crazy.”