By Liv Wilks
With the recent release of ‘Michael’, the biopic has made its box office debut at over $700 million since April 24th. This makes us ask: Why do we, as an audience, enjoy biopics so much?
Some of the biopics we have seen in recent years have really blown audiences away, from Bob Dylan to Elvis Presley to the legendary Michael Jackson; we can’t seem to get enough of musical biopics.
There are many routes we can go down when discussing these films, but I’ve found the main thing that interests audiences is the star who is carefully chosen to fill the shoes of said artists, and the lengths they go to play the role. It makes us wonder whether method acting is a performative spiel that actors use to manipulate us into believing there is no one better for the role.
Jafaar Jackson defied expectations for his role as Michael Jackson in ‘Michael’, and he showed dedication by learning choreography solely to pass the audition stage. He worked hard to prove himself and play the role with dignity and respect.
He has been praised for his uncanny performance of Michael Jackson, showing next-to-perfect choreography, and, of course, a shining family resemblance. When people heard he was playing the role of his uncle, they had their reservations as to whether making this his acting debut would be a risky move, but he absolutely blew this performance out of the water.
There was significant uproar over Austin Butler’s performance of Elvis Presley in the 2022 Baz Luhrmann film and his strange ritual to prepare him for the role. People online had noticed his voice changing permanently, morphing into a half-Elvis, half-Austin monster. His 3-year method journey consisted of hiring a dialect coach to change his voice, which he then later had to hire after the movie to get his voice back to normal. Still, however, a vast majority of people deemed his portrayal of Elvis rather shoddy – was it all for nothing?
Another biopic that had people talking was ‘A Complete Unknown’, the Bob Dylan biopic that made its debut in 2024. Timothee Chalamet provided a stellar performance as Bob Dylan, even undergoing vocal coaching so he was able to record his own versions of the songs. Now, although there was no striking resemblance, the voice was essentially a re-master of Bob Dylan’s vocals. This vocal resemblance led to an SNL performance from Timothee singing some of Dylan’s more niche songs.
Timothee said, “You might not know the Bob Dylan songs I’m performing. “But they’re my personal favourites.”
Biopics, whether the artists are dead or alive, keep people talking about artists who need to be remembered. Whether it’s gritty method performance or just sheer inherited talent, there is space for everything in a flourishing industry.
