Michael Jackson convinced the 'Men in Black II' director to avoid making him an alien so that he could wear the famous black suit

• Michael Jackson made a cameo in "Men in Black II."
• Director Barry Sonnenfeld said he originally wanted Jackson to play an alien, but the King of Pop refused.

When "Men in Black" came out in 1997, the action-comedy, which stars Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones as agents who watch over alien life forms on Earth, became a box-office smash. It even entertained the King of Pop.

According to "Men in Black" director Barry Sonnenfeld, when it was time to work on the sequel, "Men in Black II," they got a call from a fan of the franchise, Michael Jackson, who wanted to be in the movie.

"He approached us," Sonnenfeld told Insider in an interview for the original movie's 25th anniversary.

The idea was for Jackson to have a brief cameo in "MiB II," but Sonnenfeld's original idea for how he would show up in the movie didn't work out.

"I was going to make him an alien and he said, 'No, I want to wear the 'Men in Black' suit,'" Sonnenfeld recalled. "So we figured out how to do that and it worked out. He was lovely."

Jackson shows up midway through the movie. Jackson, who is wearing the MiB suit, appears on the big board at the Men in Black headquarters from a location that seems to be heavily populated with penguins in the background.

While speaking to Zed (played by Rip Torn), the head of the MiB, Jackson inquires about a position Zed promised him, saying that he can be "Agent M."

The Jackson cameo on the observation board is a similar comedy bit to what was done in the first movie.

In "Men in Black" when Smith's character, J, comes to the headquarters for the first time, Jones' character, K, shows him how the board lets them keep watch on the aliens living on Earth.

The board reveals that people like Al Roker, Sylvester Stallone, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, and Danny DeVito are all aliens.

"I wanted to have people up there that made you go, 'Yeah, he could be an alien,'" Sonnenfeld told Insider.