In Michael, Nia Long steps into the role of Katherine Jackson, the matriarch who managed the impossible task of nurturing a household full of global phenomenons. Long’s portrayal has emerged as the film’s essential backbone, offering a warm-but-powerful presence that still shines even in the quietest settings. It takes a special kind of grace to portray Katherine Jackson, and Long does it beautifully.

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“I understand very well what it means to love and protect,” she tells us. “I’m a mother of two boys, and so I just started thinking about what Katherine Jackson was enduring during the 1960s, in the middle of the Civil Rights Movement as, a mother, a wife and raising a very large family with a hardworking husband. I immediately had a lot of empathy for her and the kids and the family and Joe. And so my preparation was really just staying quiet and steady, while being there for Jaafar.”

Photo: Lionsgate

Long continues, “He (Jaafar) had an enormous responsibility to pull off these very physical. Some days we would have these small scenes, but he’d be coming off doing these big physical performances, and our scenes were kind of his rest for the day. I realized that that’s what I was supposed to do. I was supposed to be able to create space for him where he could feel safe…where he could feel a moment of reprieve, and can rest in the fact that knowing that these scenes with Katherine, that these scenes with Nia, are gonna be quiet and peaceful. And that’s the love of a mother. That’s the energy that any divine feminine maternal figure usually wants to provide and does provide.”

Our next question? What Long learned about Mrs. Jackson, and what she learned about herself in the process of preparing for this role. “I think when you play a woman like this (Mrs. Jackson), you immediately see the payoff in the end, because life always makes sense later…It may not make sense in the moment, but later on you can look back at certain things in your life and you can say like, Oh, that makes sense. I understand why that happened. I like to call her (Mrs. Jackson) Queen Katherine Jackson.”

She adds, “And then the other thing that I would say is, There’s strength in being quiet. There’s a lot of strength in being quiet. Just because you don’t speak on everything doesn’t mean you don’t see it. because and sometimes it’s best to take a step back and be an observer and you don’t have to comment. But I will say. I genuinely believe that Katherine Jackson is in charge. It’s powerful.”

And I genuinely believe Nia Long deserves an Academy Award nomination.

Featured Photo: Lionsgate

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Author Bio

Jael Rucker is the founder of Decked Out Magazine. She has previously worked as the Associate Commerce Editor at PureWow, focusing on analytics and trends to pitch stories and optimize articles that build and engage their audience. Her work has also been seen in Footwear News and WWD. Prior to 2024, she was the style and pop culture editor at ONE37pm for over three years, contributing numerous product reviews, brand profiles and fashion trend reports, which included interviewing Steph Curry, Snoop Dogg and more.