Antoine Fuqua knew immediately that Jaafar Jackson was the right person to portray his uncle Michael Jackson in the biopic Michael.

The 29-year-old star makes his film debut as the late King of Pop in the new flick and the filmmaker knew that casting him was the correct decision when he performed Bad on the very first day of production.

Asked when the biopic started to click into place, Fuqua told The Credits: "It was on day one, seeing Jaafar perform Bad. That was the tour where Michael got his wings and creative freedom.

"To see Jaafar do that, when he had never acted before, in front of 500 or 600 screaming extras, felt like a real concert, and that was a pivotal moment for me. I was understanding Michael from a more intimate perspective.

"This is Michael Jackson. You've got to put the cape on the superhero to see if he can be a superhero, and Jaafar pulled it off.

"I was shooting that scene for a few days, so he had to do it over and over at the same level, every time, from every angle. At that point, Michael had such veracity and energy, and we had to capture that."

Michael tells the story of the Beat It hitmaker's involvement in the Jackson 5 in the 1960s through to his early solo career and Fuqua explained that he was meticulous in his approach to the flick - such as filming in the exact same Los Angeles location that Jackson shot his iconic Thriller video back in 1983.

The Olympus Has Fallen helmer recalled: "I spoke to Graham (King, producer) a lot about it, and he was able to secure certain places.

"To have access to Hayvenhurst (Jackson's former home) was incredible. To film in the actual studios in Los Angeles where (he) recorded Off The Wall was incredible. You could feel the history in the air.

"We used the Pasadena Playhouse 9 for the Motown 25 show, we shot Thriller at the original location, and we had a full moon every night. It was perfect. That was eerie because the place looks the same.

"LA is unique. Just like with Training Day, it's a character for me. There's a certain light that I'm drawn to."

Fuqua also hailed the editing team for weaving Michael's songs into the picture without them completely dominating the story.

He said: "Paul Massey, our music mixer, was fantastic, and so were our editors.

"Some songs we wanted, but they didn't fit the moment. However, when you take the lyrics out, the melody still feels right. It's like score. You had to craft it along the way.

"With Michael's music, you want to listen to it all, but you can't; you don't have the time. With Wanna Be Startin' Somethin', you start to hear it, and it becomes a through line. It took a long time to find that."