Colman Domingo insisted "everyone has got a story to tell" amid the backlash surrounding his Michael Jackson biopic.
The 54-year-old actor portrays the late King of Pop's dad Joe Jackson in Antoine Fuqua's 'Michael' - which stars the 'Thriller' hitmaker's nephew Jaafar Jackson in the lead role - and though the project, which is produced by the executors of the Jackson estate, has faced criticism because of the multiple accusations of child abuse made against the singer, the 'Sing Sing' star didn't worry about the comments.
He said: "Anything surrounding those ideas about him never came into play with me.
“It’s about the character, more than anything. And the idea of working with the estate, Antoine Fuqua and Jaafar Jackson — who is exceptional.”
And Colman tries not to worry about people's concern about the heavy involvement of Michael's estate in the film.
He said: “I don’t know. I think I divorced myself from that early on.
“I learned that I’m in service to the piece, not to the response. That’s the only reason I can perform the way I do.”
And he stressed that the movie will examine Michael - who accused his dad of abuse - as a "complex human being".
He added: "I believe everyone has a story to tell."
The 'Rustin' star is used to polarising opinion with his work, particularly in Broadway musicals such as 'Passing Strange' and 'The Scottsboro Boys' but he insisted he's only ever been doing his job.
He said: "My job was not to be liked. My job was to tell the story. It wasn’t about approval. And I’ve taken that to my film and television work.”
However, he thinks it is important audiences understand he is only playing a character because he doesn't like having negative energy directed his way.
He said: "When I backhanded Fantasia in ['The Color Purple'] some people would say, ‘I’m gonna feel some kind of way about him.’ That’s OK. You should have a strong feeling about it, but hopefully it’s not about me as a person.
"When I played Victor Strand on ‘Fear the Walking Dead,’ people hated me on Twitter. Sometimes I would correct them: ‘You hate Victor Strand, which is fine. You don’t hate me.’
"Because I don’t like that energy coming at me.”
