Michael Jackson refused to play an alien in Men in Black movie, director reveals

The late Michael Jackson refused to play an alien in the Men in Black movie, its director has revealed.

In conversation with Insider for the 25th anniversary of the landmark action-comedy, film director Barry Sonnenfeld divulged never-before-shared insights.

It included things such as the actors the producers wanted to play the leads instead of Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, as well as Jackson not wanting to play an alien.

The outlet noted a scene in the movie that represented an observation board showing all the aliens living amongst people on Earth.

It included people such as Steven Spielberg, Sylvester Stallone, Al Roker, George Lucas, and Danny DeVito.

"Yeah. I wanted to have people up there that made you go, 'Yeah, he could be an alien," Sonnenfeld said.

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But, in the Men in Black II sequel, Sonnenfeld showed off the observation board in another way which highlighted a Michael Jackson cameo.

When asked how he was able to get a cameo from the legendary singer, Sonnenfeld said that Jackson "approached" them.

"Well, I was going to make him an alien, and he said, 'No, I want to wear the 'Men in Black' suit,'" he said before adding that they came up with a way to make it happen successfully.

"He was lovely," he added.

"No, I want to wear the 'Men in Black' suit." ILoveMJJnowTo4ever/YouTube

Sonnenfeld also told the outlet that he had been developing Men in Black for a while.

And after six years of trying, he was able to get the mobster comedy film Get Shorty made so he left the alien flick to do Get Shorty.

When asked about producers apparently wanting Clint Eastwood and Chris O'Donnell to play the leading characters, he said that their names were "in the mix," but he had suggested Smith and Jones.

"Will was actually my wife's idea. They went out to Tommy Lee Jones, and he said he would consider it if there was a rewrite of the script," he told the outlet.

Sonnenfeld also said that during the "rewrite," Jones had gotten director approval, so he was "off the movie again."

"This was for about four or five months. The irony is that Tommy was my idea to be in the movie in the first place."

Sonnefeld eventually got back on the film after grabbing a bite to eat with Jones.

"I had a meal with Tommy in Santa Monica about five months later after he said the latest rewrite was good enough for him to sign on. I had dinner with him, and it worked out."

Read more from the interview here.

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