Joe Jackson “saw the talent in his family,” recalls Jackie Jackson at the premiere of biopic ‘Michael’
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NEED TO KNOW
- Jackie and Marlon Jackson speak to PEOPLE on the red carpet of the April 20 premiere of Michael Jackson biopic Michael
- Their father Joe Jackson, manager of their legendary group Jackson 5, did not force the kids into the music biz when they were growing up, they say
- The five brothers “wanted to be entertainers,” says Jackie
Jackie Jackson is clearing up a misconception about his family ahead of the release of the new biopic Michael.
Jackie, a Jackson 5 member and second-oldest of Joe and Katherine Jackson's 10 kids, tells PEOPLE at the movie's Monday, April 20, Los Angeles premiere that he and his brothers “wanted to be entertainers” growing up.
“A lot of people think my father forced this on us,” Jackie, 74, says of the late Joe, who was both patriarch and manager of the pop group. “No, he did not. We wanted to do it.”
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Marlon, the sixth child of the Jackson family, agrees.
“I want the people to understand when they come see this movie that this family is no different than any other family,” Marlon tells PEOPLE. “We have our ups and downs, trials, tribulations. And we learned to agree to disagree. And it's a huge family.”
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The two brothers were joined at the Michael premiere by siblings La Toya, Randy and Jermaine, as well as the late Michael's son Prince and nephew Jaafar (Jermaine's son). Jaafar plays the King of Pop in the Antoine Fuqua-directed, John Logan-written biopic, developed with the blessing of many of Michael's family members.
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Jackie remembers that the siblings' childhood in Gary, Ind., included “growing up in a small, tiny two-bedroom house, setting up our equipment every day, rehearsing every single day.” But the Jackson 5 had a life outside of their meteoric ascent with Motown Records. “We went outside and played sports, baseball, all the things.”
Joe “saw the talent in his family, and he brought us instruments,” Jackie concludes of his father, who died of pancreatic cancer in 2018 at age 89.
Another misconception about the Jackson 5? "How hard it was," as Jackie says, to break out in the music biz. Many "think it happened overnight for us," says Marlon. "It didn't."
In addition to Jaafar and Juliano Krue Valdi as Michael, the new biopic stars Colman Domingo as Joe, with Nia Long as his wife Katherine and Miles Teller as lawyer-manager John Branca.
Michael opens in theaters on Friday, April 24.
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