During Michael Jackson’s amazing career, he became known as one of the biggest stars in the world. From the outside looking in, it seems like everyone who reaches that level of stardom can make whatever they want to happen in the entertainment industry.

When Jackson wasn’t busy being the King of Pop, he spent a lot of time thinking about wanting to become a big deal in Hollywood, and that worked out for him in some small ways. Able to have an episode of The Simpsons revolve around him, Jackson also starred in The Wiz, and he turned the music video for “Thriller” into a short film.

Sadly for Jackson, most of his Hollywood dreams never came to fruition including his hopes to help make a Harry Potter musical. Jackson also tried to be cast as Jar Jar Binks from Star Wars, he tried to star in a film as Spider-Man, and he wanted to voice a character for Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

On top of all those other plans that never came to fruition, it turns out that Jackson tried to land the role of Edward Scissorhands in Tim Burton’s beloved movie. Once fans learn that Jackson wanted to play Edward Scissorhands, the only question that remains is why Burton didn’t cast him.

Was Michael Jackson Ever Going To Play Edward Scissorhands?
In the years since Michael Jackson passed away, many of the legendary singer’s fans have learned more about his life and career. One notable example of something many fans only learned about after the fact is that despite all of Jackson’s success, he was going broke when he passed away.

Of course, Jackson made a lot of decisions that led to him not having many of the millions he made during his career left. After all, Jackson spent a fortune on his home, Neverland Ranch, so he could have theme park rides and a zoo.

On top of the money that Jackson spent on his incredible home, the pop legend also owned a slew of incredible and very expensive items. Since Jackson loved movies and Hollywood, many of the things he bought during his life related to his favorite films.

By the time Jackson passed away, he owned expensive recreations of Michael Keaton’s Batman suit and E.T.’s head. On top of that, Jackson bought life-size figures Jackson bought of Superman, Yoda, Spider-Man, C-3P0, and Darth Vader among others. Jackson also reportedly paid $1.5 million for the Academy Award statue that Gone With the Wind won for Best Picture.

On top of all that, Jackson reportedly paid $5,300 to buy a pair of the gloves that Johnny Depp wore to play Edward Scissorhands’ titular character. Before Jackson decided to buy those gloves, he tried to convince Tim Burton that he was the right person to wear them on the big screen.

In 2009, Edward Scissorhands’ writer Caroline Thompson was interviewed by Vice. During the resulting conversation, Thompson spoke about her incredible career including her experiences with Jackson.

As it turns out, Thompson actually worked with Jackson to write a movie for the pop star that never got produced. While talking about that project, Thompson revealed that the sole reason why Jackson hired her to work on it was that she wrote the script for Edward Scissorhands.

In 2020, Insider spoke to Thompson for an article they published looking at Edward Scissorhands. According to that article’s writer, Jacob Sarkisian, Thompson revealed that “Jackson was snooping around for the role” of Edward Scissorhands. The article then included a quote from Thompson that revealed Burton never pursued Jackson to star in Edward Scissorhands.

“I imagine Michael Jackson wanted to do it. I imagine he pursued Tim. Tim didn’t pursue him.”

Why Tim Burton Refused To Cast Michael Jackson As Edward Scissorhands
At the height of Johnny Depp’s career, he was one of the biggest movie stars in the world. After all, he starred in a slew of popular movies including the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, Alice in Wonderland, Donnie Brasco, and many more successful films.

Since Depp became such a massive deal in Hollywood, it can be easy to forget where his career was when he was cast in Edward Scissorhands. Before Depp was hired to star in Tim Burton’s masterpiece, he was only known as the guy from the show 21 Jump Street.

On the other hand, when Burton was preparing to make Edward Scissorhands, Michael Jackson was one of the most famous people in the world.
Considering how famous Jackson was in the late-’80s, it seems amazing that Burton didn’t want him to star in Edward Scissorhands. After all, if Jackson starred in Edward Scissorhands, Burton’s movie was guaranteed to be talked about a lot.

Unfortunately for anyone who wants to definitively know why Burton refused to cast Jackson as Edward Scissorhands, the famous director hasn’t confirmed his reasons. That said, it is pretty easy to see why Burton decided to pass on Jackson.

In 2022, Burton appeared at the Lumière Film Festival to accept the Lumière Lifetime Achievement Award. While appearing at that event, Burton took questions from fans and after being asked about the subject, Tim explained why he has such a strong bond with Johnny Depp.

“I connected with him when I met him for Edward Scissorhands: He was similar to me, kind of suburban white trash. It was not even a verbal understanding. It was something I could feel. He liked the characters, he was interested in acting for the art of it, not the business of it.”

Based on how Burton described the connection he instantly had with Depp, it seems clear Burton wanted to cast an actor with a similar vibe as him to play Edward Scissorhands. While Jackson is a great artist, nobody would say that Michael reminds them of Burton. With that in mind, it seems very unlikely that Burton ever would have seriously considered casting Jackson as Edward Scissorhands.