Nia Long says portraying Katherine Jackson in ‘Michael’ was ‘opportunity of a lifetime’

Nia Long has experience as a mother, but she’s never raised a superstar. That temporarily changes on screen, where she’s set to portray Katherine Jackson in the upcoming biopic Michael.

“I know what it is to be a mother,” she says in an interview with People. “But I don’t know what it is to raise a superstar.”

She describes Katherine’s story as one “rooted in grace,” and says that it seems the matriarch of the Jackson family has a “strong and kind” spirit.

Though she has not seen the film or met Katherine in person, Nia hopes Katherine enjoys the movie, which she describes as “an opportunity of a lifetime — and not kind of a dream come true, a dream come true.”

“All of these wonderful things are happening at once, and … I haven’t wrapped my head around everything yet,” she tells People. “I know I’ve worked really hard for everything, but it hasn’t landed yet. It still feels not real. … I’m feeling really, really blessed right now.”

Michael, which stars MJ’s nephew and Jermaine Jackson’s son Jafaar Jackson as the King of Pop, arrives in theaters on April 24, 2026.