By Miya Jones

Outrage has ensued over the casting of a white actor as Michael Jackson in an

upcoming British TV show.

The UK television channel Sky Arts is producing a half hour comedy show called

“Elizabeth, Michael & Marlon”. The show is about a fictional road trip that Michael

Jackson, Elizabeth Taylor and Marlon Brando after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Jackson’s part will be played by white British actor, Joseph Fiennes, who said he was

just as surprised about the casting as many other people are.

“I’m a middle-class guy from London,” said Fiennes in an interview with

Entertainment Tonight. “I’m as shocked as you may be.”

In a 1993 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Jackson stated exactly how he felt about a

person of a different race portraying him on screen. In the interview Winfrey asked

Jackson about a rumor going around at the time that Jackson wanted a white boy to

star as him in a Pepsi commercial.

“That is so stupid,” said Jackson in the interview. “That’s the most ridiculous,

horrifying story I’ve ever heard. It’s crazy. I mean why? Number one, it’s my face as a

child in the commercial. Me when I was little. Why would I want a white child to

play me? I’m a black American. I’m proud to be a black American. I am proud of my

race. I am proud of who I am. I have a lot of pride in who I am and dignity.”

The project is scheduled to premiere later this year.