Miles Teller defends his upcoming Michael Jackson biopic: He ‘deserves’ this

nypost.com:

beat it.Miles Teller is defending the upcoming Michael Jackson biopic, proclaiming that the late singer should get his own movie “regardless” of what critics think.“You only get so many opportunities in this business to make films,” Teller, 37, told Variety during the Vanity Fair Oscars party. “I’m really excited to be a part of it.

I think it’s going to blow people away.”The “Top Gun: Maverick” star is slated to play Jackson’s former manager, John Branca, in the movie.

He noted that he took into account the allegations of child sex abuse made against Jackson before signing on.“I think you just try to inundate yourself with as much information as you can,” he told the outlet.

Teller spent time with Branca, 73, to better understand him for the role.“I’ve gotten to hang out with him a little bit,” the “Whiplash” star said. “I mean, it’s really it’s an incredible team involved.”Director Antoine Fuqua is behind the project alongside producer Graham King.Despite the negative stigma surrounding Jackson, who died at 50 in 2009, Teller believes the “Thriller” singer deserves to have his story told. “Regardless of what you know or what your opinion may be, Michael is one of the greatest to ever do it, if not the greatest,” he said. “He deserves a movie, and I’m excited to be a part of it.”He added: “I just like being a part of the team if you come from theater; I think the word ensemble means a lot.”It was announced in January 2023 that King, 62, and Fuqua, 58, would be collaborating on the project after the film was cleared by the late singer’s estate in 2019. “The first films of my career were music videos, and I still feel that combining film and music are a deep part of who I am,” Fuqua told Deadline at the time. “For me,.