Michael Jackson's Men In Black II Cameo Came With Plenty Of Frustration

If you've ever wondered what Michael Jackson was doing in "Men in Black II," director Barry Sonnenfeld has the answer. The filmmaker's new memoir, "Best Possible Place, Worst Possible Time," just debuted, and in it Sonnenfeld shares plenty of never-before-heard stories about the making of the popular Will Smith-led alien comedy franchise. Among them is a tale about the time the controversial king of pop stopped by for a cameo, a set day that did not go as planned.

According to Sonnenfeld, it was Jackson himself who really wanted to be in "Men in Black II." Since his record deal was through Sony Music and the "Men in Black" franchise was released by Sony Pictures, the singer's dream wasn't just achievable, but potentially good for the studio, and Sonnenfeld says that Sony executive Amy Pascal was also asking for the cameo to happen. "Amy thought his appearance in a hit movie would be great [for him]; I wondered if he was slightly damaged goods," the filmmaker writes. Jackson had by the early aughts already been embroiled in several high-profile scandals including child sex abuse allegations (he would later be acquitted of additional allegations, with more arising after his death).

At the time, Jackson's reputation was split in the eyes of the public, with some people viewing him as a misunderstood, pure-hearted musical genius, while others saw him as deeply eccentric and likely harmful. Sonnenfeld doesn't dig into his own Jackson opinions in the book, but he does say that he first offered Jackson a role as an alien in the film, which he thought would be a "no brainer." Instead, Jackson "insisted on being an MIB agent, which was tougher for me to swallow," Sonnenfeld writes. Jackson wasn't on board with being pictured as one of the celebrities who's actually an alien in the first "Men in Black" film, with Sonnenfeld previously telling Business Insider that the star wanted to wear the film's famous black suit. By the time the second movie came around, Jackson's cameo was all set up: he would be playing a field agent in Antarctica.

Sonnenfeld recalled a shooting day with Jackson that was fraught with minor problems, starting with an alleged demand (though from who, the book doesn't say) that everyone call Jackson Number One or The King of Pop. The director also recalls calling Pascal when Jackson wouldn't come out of his trailer for over an hour, and asking her to come speak with him as both studio chairperson and "the single reason we agreed to this insanity." Sonnenfeld says that Pascal didn't talk him down, but Jackson eventually appeared on set in red pajamas and seemed nervous. "The King of Pop, standing on his mark, stared out at dozens of crew members and whispered: 'Mr. Barry. Can we do this tomorrow?'"

Things got worse before they got better. According to the new memoir, Sonnenfeld asked Jackson if the pair could talk in his trailer, and once inside, the pop star burst into tears. When Jackson asked to move the shoot to the next day, the filmmaker wasn't able to acquiesce. "I'm sorry, Michael, um, King," Sonnenfeld recalls. "It has to be today. But if you don't want to do it, we can make it work without you." Hilariously, he also says Jackson claimed it was his dream to play a Man in Black "from the time [he] was a little boy," even though the first film had only come out a few years earlier. After the pair finished speaking, Pascal called Sonnenfeld, relaying the news that Jackson thought he'd been fired. Sonnenfeld had clearly lost patience by this point, but writes that they shoot went on that day as planned. "I went back to the King of Pop's trailer and somehow convinced him to put on the f***ing black suit and walked him to the set. We rolled camera."

The scene in question features Jackson speaking via monitor with Zed, the MIB leader played by, as Sonnenfeld puts it, "the almost certifiably insane Rip Torn." Apparently, Jackson kept calling Zed "Zeke" in the shoot, and eventually asked if he could just be named "Zeke" instead. "I could tell Michael was nervous," Sonnenfeld noted after Torn seemed to start getting fed up with the name issue. Here, the director's opinion on the star seems to finally soften, and he describes Jackson as "a frightened delicate child." In a 2022 Insider retrospective, Sonnenfeld also said of Jackson, "He was lovely."

After hours of shooting one short sequence, Jackson's role in the film wrapped. In the end, his role was a combination of both Jackson's idea and Sonnenfeld's: Jackson's field agent (who may or may not work for MIB but certainly works with them) asks Zed about the job he's been promised at the bureau, and Zed replies that the alien affirmative action campaign hasn't begun yet. It's a short appearance (only 22 seconds, despite the full day's shoot) that's funny and sweet for fans of the pop star, yet it also gestures towards the complicated, oddball reputation Jackson had earned by the early aughts.

The King of Pop himself was apparently pleased with the part he played in the movie. Sonnenfeld says he later got a note, written by hand on red paper, from Jackson. It thanked the director for making Jackson's dream come true, and according to the new book, it made the chaos along the way worth it.