Antoine Fuqua's Michael is a movie that tells the story of Michael Jackson's rise from a cramped house in Gary, Indiana, to global superstardom. Jaafar Jackson — Michael's nephew, son of Jermaine, making his film debut — was cast to play his uncle. It was filmed entirely in California.
5785 Enfield Avenue, Encino
The film opens in the late 1960s with the Jackson family home in Gary, Indiana. A small bungalow, a driven and ruthless father, five boys who will change music forever. The house is actually at 5785 Enfield Avenue at Hatteras Street in Encino, deep in the San Fernando Valley. The snow is fake. The palm trees had to be removed. But the bungalow is a reasonable stand-in for the real Jackson home at 2300 Jackson Street in Gary.
The Orpheum Theatre, 842 South Broadway, Downtown Los Angeles
The Jackson Five's first major break — their performance at the "Regal Theatre, Chicago," where a Motown representative slips Joseph Jackson her card — was filmed at the Orpheum Theatre on South Broadway in Downtown Los Angeles. The Orpheum opened in 1926 as the final venue of the Orpheum vaudeville circuit, and the young Judy Garland performed on its stage before she was Judy Garland.
4641 Hayvenhurst Avenue, Encino
As the family's success grows, they move from their cramped Indiana bungalow to a grand Mock-Tudor Californian estate. The film uses the real thing. Hayvenhurst — the actual Jackson family compound at 4641 Hayvenhurst Avenue in Encino — has remained in the Jackson family and, since 2019, has been occupied by Michael Jackson's daughter. The two-acre property includes the main mansion, a candy store, a puppet shop, an ice cream shop, a Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs diorama, and a private movie theatre. "To have access to Hayvenhurst was incredible," director Fuqua said. "To film in the actual studios in Los Angeles where you recorded 'Off the Wall' was incredible. You could feel the history in the air."
EastWest Studios, 6000 West Sunset Boulevard, East Hollywood
The sessions for Off the Wall — Michael's first genuine solo masterpiece, recorded with Quincy Jones in 1979 — were filmed at EastWest Studios on Sunset Boulevard in East Hollywood. This is not a set dressed to look like a historic studio. It is a historic studio. Frank Sinatra recorded My Way here. The Beach Boys made Pet Sounds here. And some of Thriller was recorded in these same rooms.
The Millennium Biltmore Hotel, 506 South Grand Avenue, Downtown Los Angeles
The chaotic press conference scene was filmed in the Crystal Ballroom of the Millennium Biltmore Hotel on South Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles. The Biltmore has been a Hollywood favourite for decades. It was the Sedgewick Hotel in Ghostbusters. It was the Beverly Palms Hotel in Beverly Hills Cop.
Mulholland Drive and Griffith Observatory
Feeling the need to escape his father's control, Michael confides in his security guard Bill. Bill drives him up to Mulholland Drive — the road winding along the crest of the Hollywood Hills, with the lights of Los Angeles spread below. The Griffith Observatory is visible in the background.
