A White Actor Will Play Michael Jackson In The Weirdest Road Trip Comedy Of All Time

Stop me if you've heard this one before. Michael Jackson, Marlon Brando and Elizabeth Taylor road-trip to Ohio after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

No, that's not the setup for the world's worst joke. It's an actual plot, for an actual one-off half hour comedy, based on what's rumored to be a true story .

But wait, it gets weirder. In news unlikely to sit well with those protesting the lack of diversity at the Oscars (and Hollywood in general), The Guardian reports Michael Jackson will be played by Joseph Fiennes , a white man.

Fiennes, who starred in "Shakespeare in Love" and "American Horror Story" (the source of the above gif) will play alongside Brian Cox, who has been cast as Brando, and Stockard Channing, of "Grease" fame, as Liz Taylor.

"I got the script the other day,” Fiennes told WENN . “It’s a challenge. It’s a comedy. It doesn’t poke mean fun, but it’s a story, possibly urban legend, whereby Michael, Marlon Brando, and Liz Taylor were all together the day before 9/11 doing a concert. Airspace was shut down and they couldn’t get out and Michael had the bright idea to go to hire a car and drive."

Fiennes hinted at humorous moments built around Brando's incessant desire for fast food along the journey, but suggested it wouldn't all be fun and happy meals.

"It’s a fun, lighthearted tongue-in-cheek road trip of what celebrity of that kind is like," he said. "But also it’s rather beautiful and poignant about their relationships as well.”

CORRECTION: A previous version of this post mischaracterized the project as a movie. 

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