MICHAEL JACKSON made a cameo appearance in Men In Black 2 after he called
the film's director and told him how the first film made him "weep" while he
watched it.
Michael Jackson missed his chance of joining the 1997
film Men in Black after he turned down a cameo opportunity. The Thriller
singer changed his mind when he saw the film in cinemas, however, prompting
him to track down the movie’s director and urge him to put him in the
upcoming sequel.
Director Barry Sonnenfeld told the BBC back in 2002 about Jackson
first turning down the role.
He said: “I very much wanted Michael
Jackson to be in the first Men In Black.
“There was a scene in it
when we showed all these aliens and George Lucas, Sylvester Stallone, Danny
De Vito and Steven Spielberg were all there and I really wanted Michael to
be in it.
“But for some reason he didn't want to be considered as an
alien in Men In Black I.”
Over a year into filming Men In Black
II, Sonnenfeld received a message from Jackson saying he “really wanted to
be in the movie”.
The director said: “I had a lovely conversation
with Michael in which he told me he had seen the first Men In Black in Paris
and had stayed when all the other people left the theatre and sat there and
wept.
“I had to explain to him that it was a comedy.”
Sonnenfeld
then revealed how Jackson didn’t care what he did in the film, he just had
one very particular request.
Sonnenfeld said: “Jackson said he
would love to be in Men In Black II wearing the black suit, all that
mattered to him was that he wore that black suit. It was very funny and it
was entirely Michael's idea."
Jackson’s scene shows him working in Antarctica with a swarm of
penguins.
Agent Zed (played by Rip Torn) dismissed the character
when he proposed that he could join the Men in Black agency as Agent M.
Men
In Black II was the only example of Jackson appearing in a film in a cameo
role.
