<p id=”par-1_58″>While Michael Jackson was <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/michael-jackson-cried-time-sang-1-song.html/”>primarily a singer</a>, he did some acting, including a role <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/wiz-diana-ross-play-dorothy-instead-stephanie-mills.html/”>in <em>The Wiz</em></a>. Jackson played the Scarecrow in the 1978 film. He said he loved getting into character, something that the film’s crew became well aware of. He reportedly never wanted to leave the set, forcing crew members to coax him to go home.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-michael-jackson-didn-t-want-to-leave-the-set-of-the-wiz”>Michael Jackson didn’t want to leave the set of ‘The Wiz’</h2>
<p id=”par-2_38″>Jackson and the people who knew him well described him <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/quincy-jones-admitted-12-year-old-michael-jackson-weird.html/”>as painfully shy</a>. When he got on stage to perform, though, a <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/beyonces-mom-said-singer-became-alter-ego-sasha-fierce-acting-crazy-person.html/”>different version of himself</a> took over. He said that the same thing happened when he acted.</p>
<p id=”par-3_60″>“When it’s time to go off [stage], I don’t want to. I could stay up there forever,” he told <a href=”https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/michael-jackson-life-as-a-man-in-the-magical-kingdom-237878/” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Rolling Stone</a>. “It’s the same thing with making a movie. What’s wonderful about a film is that you can become another person. I love to forget. And lots of times, you totally forget. It’s like automatic pilot. I mean – whew.”</p>
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<iframe title=’The Wiz | “Ease On Down the Road” Performed by Diana Ross and Michael Jackson’ width=”925″ height=”520″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/uNKmKOjGUbw?feature=oembed” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” referrerpolicy=”strict-origin-when-cross-origin” allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<p id=”par-4_35″>He liked playing the Scarecrow so much that the crew had to force him to leave the set after a day of filming. When he recorded the audiobook for <em>E.T.</em>, he said he felt similarly.</p>
<p id=”par-5_41″>“That’s what I loved about doing <em>E.T.</em> I was actually there,” he said. “The next day, I missed him a lot. I wanted to go back to that spot I was at yesterday in the forest. I wanted to be <em>there</em>.”</p>
<p id=”par-6_17″>While Jackson didn’t do much acting beyond <em>The Wiz</em>, he made <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/michael-jackson-and-tupac-shakur-were-almost-in-star-wars.html/”>several more small appearances</a> in films.</p>