KeiLyn Durrel Jones on Becoming Bill Bray, Michael Jackson’s Quiet Guardian, in “Michael”

When it came to portraying Bill Bray, KeiLyn Durrel Jones found that 27 seconds made all the difference.

Bray was a key part of Michael Jackson’s world. A former police officer, Joe Jackson, hired him to provide security for the Jackson 5. Eventually, Bray became director of security for both the musical group and Michael as he segued into his solo career. During those years, Bray not only served as Jackson’s protector, but he also became a confidant and, in some ways, his closest friend. Some say Bray was the father that Joe wasn’t.

Directed by Antoine Fuqua, Michael is a vibrant musical celebration of the pop icon. Jaafar Jackson, Michael’s nephew, brings his uncle to life with a high-energy turn that uncannily recreates many of Jackson’s iconic dance moves and some of his most beloved hits. In addition to Jones, the film stars Colman Domingo as Jackson’s driving, domineering father, Joe; Nia Long as Jackson’s supportive mother, Katherine; and Miles Teller as John Branca, the entertainment lawyer instrumental in taking Jackson to the top of the charts.

Jones, who secured the role of Bray through a self-taped audition that caught the attention of both Fuqua and the film’s producer, Graham King, was tasked with learning about the man who seemed ever-present in Jackson’s life, yet always in the background. Details were scarce. 

“I found a bunch of pictures and snippets of videos here and there, many of which I had already seen by being a fan,” says Jones during a recent Zoom conversation. “I would notice that Bill Bray was always there. He was always around. But when you’re looking at a picture or video of Michael Jackson, you’re looking at Michael Jackson, not really paying attention to who else is in the frame.”

Bray died in 2005, four years before Jackson. So the two people who best knew the relationship were gone. Jones was able to piece together their relationship from secondhand accounts.

“As we were shooting, I would meet people who knew these men and their rapport,” Jones continues. “Everyone had loads to say about how much they loved each other, the pranks they would pull on each other, how Bill was sort of a pseudo father figure, a kind of caretaker, confidant, protector of Michael. I tried to cultivate that and honor their rapport.”

Early in the process, Jones asked the filmmakers if any recordings existed of the man he was playing. There was one — a video that Karen Langford, the senior executive of Jackson’s estate and a producer on the film, had found. It lasted 27 seconds.

“She sent me this clip of Bill Bray talking to the Jacksons,” says Jones. “When Michael was a teenager, talking to the boys before they went onstage. It was a curated news segment.”

As it turns out, that was all Jones needed.

“To hear how he sounded, to see how he moved. Things like this,” continues Jones. “That was instrumental in helping me hook into the character.”

Turning on what Jones describes as his nerdy actor’s brain, he drew from his own experiences to develop what he saw as the bond between Jackson and Bray.

“There were a lot of strong, caring men in my life who raised me. I tried to pull from those relationships and those experiences to tap into this idea of someone who was close to a family, but not necessarily blood,” explains Jones. “We create family in a lot of cases. Michael and Bill became family through their mutual love and respect for one another. I know what that’s like — to want the best for someone, protect them, uphold them, and uplift them. I tried to tap into that.”

Recently, Jones has been making his mark on the small screen with standout performances in Better Call Saul, Succession, The Other Two, and How to Die Alone. A graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Jones feels his years on the stage, including productions of Troilus and Cressida, The Lion in Winter, and Lone Star Spirits, have helped his performance.

“I’m of the theatre. I’ve done your Chekhov and your Shakespeare,” continues Jones. “When you’re training, you try to stretch and do characters that you may not have known in real life. I’ve played some older men before. I feel that prepared me for what is, for all intents and purposes, a period piece. Michael takes place in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. To play someone who’s older than me, in a time before I was born, I had to tap into my imagination, dig deep into my actor’s toolbox.”

Jones credits Jaafar Jackson for helping him up his game. The two meshed immediately, building a rapport about film favorites and Jaafar’s golf game. (Jones doesn’t play, but his father does, so he appreciates the passion for the sport.) In no time, the two were sharing inside jokes and playing pranks on each other, as Michael and Bray often did.

“He’s just a funny, charming, solid, sweet man,” Jones says of Jackson. “He made himself so easy to love, but also easy to work with. Even in the heavier, more emotional scenes, we would cut or wrap for the day and talk about how much fun it was. ‘I can’t wait to do the next one.’”

Further fueling Jones’ appreciation of his costar was the electrifying way he captures Michael. King had praised Jackson’s performance during the Zoom meeting when he offered Jones the role, but Jones didn’t fully get it until filming began.

“You can talk about it all day, but until you actually see it, it’s incredible the way he became his uncle,” explains Jones. “He steps into this man and embodies him. And it’s not just onstage during the singing and the concert scenes, which are flawless. It’s his mannerisms, the way he holds his hands, the way he walks, the timbre of his voice.

Jones adds that it was all the more impressive, considering Jackson had never acted before. Though he has some musical background, Jackson had never really danced before. “He worked his tail off to step into these ginormous shoes.”

Michael shot primarily in Los Angeles. For Jones, it was the ultimate Hollywood experience. He remembers watching Domingo, Long, and Teller in his younger years and considers Fuqua films, such as Training Day, among his favorites. So he relished his time on set with them.

Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City housed the film’s interiors, primarily the Jacksons’ Encino home. “A lot of it was shot in the studio, which has its own sort of dreamy quality, right? I’m living the dream,” says Jones. “I’m coming out of my trailer. I’m walking over to the studio. We’re doing the thing.”

Exteriors of the house were filmed at the actual Jackson Hayvenhurst estate in the San Fernando Valley. The scene recreating the Thriller music video was shot at the same East Los Angeles location in Boyle Heights where the original was filmed.

“Maybe it was serendipitous, or maybe it was planned, but there was this big, beautiful full moon during these back-to-back overnights,” says Jones. “The energy was electric. Obviously, the cast, but the crew was also dressed as zombies and werewolves.”

Just as magical was the scene where Jackson and Bray drive through the Griffith Park mountains, past the Griffith Observatory, for a heart-to-heart talk on the roadside overlooking the city. “It was a beautiful day. The weather was kind of perfect, the Hollywood sign in the background,” remembers Jones. “Not to be all romantic about it, but you kind of can’t help it. We’re like, ‘Wow, we’re in Hollywood making this movie about Michael Jackson.’ I know I’ve said that before, but it was a dream come true.”

How well did Jones capture Bray? Well, during a fan event in April in Berlin, Germany, Jones met Jermaine, Marlon, and Jackie Jackson for the first time. “They insisted on calling me Bill. They were very complimentary about how I captured his essence,” says Jones. “It was definitely the kind of review you want as an actor.”

Michael is in theaters now.

Featured image: Jaafar Jackson is Michael Jackson and KeiLyn Durrel Jones is Bill Bray in “Michael.” Courtesy Lionsgate.