Roman Wellington Banks Turned Down ‘MJ: The Musical’ to Star in ‘HSMTMTS’ — Now He’s Leading the Tour (Exclusive)

The 'High School Musical: The Musical: The Series' and 'Dear Evan Hansen' alum talks with PEOPLE about playing the 'larger-than-life' role of Michael Jackson

When it comes to Roman Wellington Banks’ role in MJ: The Musical, timing was everything.

On June 6, it was announced that the actor, 24, would be playing the leading role of Michael Jackson in the production’s first national tour, which kicks off in Chicago on Aug. 1.

Speaking with PEOPLE exclusively, Banks reveals that his role in the musical has actually been a long time coming, as he originally auditioned for the 2021 Broadway production, which was led by Myles Frost and won four Tony Awards.

“I had auditioned for the role of Middle Michael, which is the out of Jackson 5 into ‘Off the Wall’ era of Michael Jackson,” he says. “That would have been my dream come true. I would've been able to originate a role and that would've been so exciting.”

Though he says he did get offered the job, he recalls turning it down to star in High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, in which he played Howie in season 2.

“High School Musical was also such a new opportunity for me. I'd never done TV, and I really wanted to take advantage of that and especially to do a show that I did actually truly like,” he says about doing HSMTMTS. “So it felt good and my agents at the time thought that was a wonderful choice and I agreed with them.”

As fate would have it though, years later he got a second chance to audition for the musical — this time as the lead.

“I never saw that for myself necessarily,” Banks admits about playing the main Michael Jackson. Since the casting directors were already familiar with him, he quickly moved through the audition process to a boot camp with four other actors, which he says, “was the hardest audition process I've ever had to endure.”

After a grueling audition process, including physically demanding dance numbers, Banks fittingly found out he got role on Halloween. Though, he admits that the news is still taking time to sink in.

”Once I finally allowed myself space to celebrate, which took a long, long time because it didn't really feel like anything was actually happening for a really long time, it was really gratifying,” he says. “And it continues to hit me. I think that first show will bring that journey to a close and I can finally truly accept this present time in my career and my life.”

Though this is his first national tour, it’s certainly not his first theater production. Serving as an understudy in Broadway’s Dear Evan Hansen from 2018 to 2020, Banks previously made history as the first Black actor to play Evan Hansen. In 2021, Jordan Fisher made history as the first Black actor to star as Evan Hansen full-time.

After having that experience, Banks says it’s been “healing” stepping into the role of a Black icon like Jackson. “To come into this experience as a Black man, specifically after making history in a show that was so predominantly white, it's been really healing,” he says. “I have a predominantly Black cast [but] there's also Black members of the creative team and the music team and even our crew. My dresser's Black, which I haven't experienced before. It's really made coming to work such a safe space. I don't ever feel like I have to put anything on to come to work or code-switch. I show up as Roman, I leave as Roman, I perform as Roman.”

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That being said, he adds that Dear Evan Hansen helped in unexpected ways as he prepared for MJ: The Musical. “[It] gave me the yearning to find out the emotional truths of Michael, to really dive into his brain during 1992, and where his heart was at and what his anxieties were and where his confidence lies,” he says. “The great thing about Dear Evan Hansen and Evan specifically is that it calls you to look inside yourself and between you and this character who might be very close to who you are naturally, or in my case, a bit further, in terms of physical manifestation.”

Specifically, playing Evan Hansen made Banks “want to tell the story of [Michael Jackson’s] heart.” “We know his singing, we know his songs and dance so well, but we don't really know the human,” he says. “I just hope that people recognize, not only the work that I put into it, but also the connection that I'm trying to show to Michael's heart. I really want you to look at Michael in a human lens and not a godlike lens but as a man who had emotions and feelings and really at the end of the day, just yearned to be able to live his life as a regular human being.” 

“It's been really amazing to take someone who feels like such a unicorn and a myth and a larger-than-life figure and almost feel like they're a friend of mine,” he adds of playing Jackson. “I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would ever portray my musical hero and in such an in-depth way. So it's really allowed me to look past all the tabloids I grew up with and all the rumors that I grew up with about him, and to really find out who he is through my own eyes and research, at least up to 1992, until the point of my portrayal."

The show takes audiences inside Jackson's creative process, depicting the singer rehearsing for his 1992 Dangerous world tour. It features over 25 of the singer's biggest hits.

Jackson went from child star to chart-topping King of Pop, with hits like "Beat It" and "Billie Jean." Jackson was arrested on charges of child molestation back in 2003, though he was acquitted of those charges in 2005. The singer was accused of sexual abuse by two people after his death in 2013 at age 50. A 2019 documentary revisited the allegations.

As for what he’s looking most forward to about opening night, Banks says the moment will be all about his family, especially his mom who grew up listening to Jackson’s music. “I think about what it must feel like to grow up with an artist that you love that you introduced to your children, and then one day one of your children is going to embody that artist for you,” he says. “I can only imagine the emotional journey she's going to take. And it makes me emotional thinking about it. I dedicate the show to them because, without them, I wouldn't be here.”

“I think this is the first time they're really able to watch a process and be excited about it for me because they know so much about Michael Jackson and they can connect to this story,” he says. “They saw Dear Evan Hansen and they [were] like, ‘Cool,’ which I loved but I think when they can really understand the gravity and the weight behind something I'm involved in, they can really get excited about it. They're already so over the moon for this, so I can only imagine what they'll experience when I step on that stage on opening night.”

Tickets for the national tour of MJ: The Musical are on sale now through Sept. 8, 2024.

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