Kellie Parker about Michael

Kellie Parker from Michael´s movie Moonwalker talks about MJ, 2009:

What was taken can never be replaced: Kellie Parker who played ‘Katie’ in the film Moonwalker shared her story and relationship with Michael Jackson in an interview with Steve Freiss

Kellie: “It’s hard… (losing composure, pauses) I’ll always feel that way. I’ll always be waiting for him.”

Steve Friess: “As I understand it you remained in contact with Michael up until very recently.”

Kellie: “Yeah. I remained very close with Michael for about ten years. Then after that I continued to stay in touch with him but not as regularly, every couple of years and then I did actually see him a couple of weeks before he passed away.”

Steve: “What was the occasion?”

Kellie: “I was working on a show he came to see, sort of randomly…”

Kellie: “I do know that in his life he would struggle with being so well known, that was sort of a constant struggle throughout his life. But I do have to say, I spent a lot of time with Michael alone on set, he and I had a lot of scenes together and he taught me so much. He was so dedicated. We would go through – before we even shot he and I would spend sometimes like half an hour together just improving, ’cause he was so committed to it.

Steve: “How was the audition process for something like this, how did that go?”

Kellie: “You know it’s funny, I auditioned for it, then didn’t hear anything for six months and thought somebody else must have gotten it. Well, originally it was caused Chicago Nights. And they weren’t quite sure what exactly it was going to be.
And I actually found out a couple of years later, I was doing a press thing with Michael, and they’d asked how he’d chosen each of us. Apparently what got me the job was, they got me in to do a screen test and after the screen test they’d left the cameras rolling.

And I was such a tomboy, that was me – I had braids in my hair, I was raggedy, ripped up jeans. I was just tough! I wanted to be a guy. And Brandon did the screen test with me and we had a ball or something and he was playing with it and I went up to him and was like, ‘You’re doing it wrong! God!’ But they’d left it rolling. So that’s what Michael saw and he was like, ‘Oh my god, I have to have her.’”

Michael was magic, pure and simple. He was a man who believed in the goodness of mankind and embodied pure unconditional love for the world. I am so sad on so many levels. For the loss of an innovative genius and who was music and dance personified, for the loss of a man who loved the whole world and touched so many lives, but mostly, for me personally, the loss of a friend that I loved so dearly.

Most people don’t know about how close I was to Michael for many years following ‘Moonwalker/Smooth Criminal’ because I was never one to exploit that, even to this day I rarely talk about it, for that was a friendship that I honored and respected as private. I feel compelled at this time though, to speak of my amazing friend, as a witness to his life, and the gentleness of his soul.

He taught me so much, both as an actor and as a person, he continually inspired me to reach beyond my boundaries. He and I spent a great deal of time, one on one, while filming ‘Moonwalker.’

I remember that he told me once to never rush an emotion, that everything in life has a rhythm, and that it is the pauses and silences that speak the truth. He understood this better than anyone, he had a way of quietly inspiring everyone around him to be better than ever thought they could be. He helped so many, and inspired us all.

Michael believed in Magic, he believed that we could change the world, and he had such unconditional love that when you were around him, you couldn’t help but believe it too.

He is intertwined in all of who I am, I became a dancer because of him, I became an artist because he inspired me to dream, and a writer because he taught me the power of moving people through words and actions. I love you my friend, and I know you are in a better place, we were blessed to have you for as long as we did.” 

Source: https://mjtranslate.com/en/aboutmjs/1579