Actor Michael DeLorenzo recalls thrill of Jackson video

“It’s the kind of moment you live for,” DeLorenzo tells Conexión a day after the pop icon’s sudden death.

The New York-born actor says working with Jackson was exciting — “I had all his records,” he says — and it would become an experience to treasure.

“It’s a piece of history,” the actor says of the pioneering “Beat It” video that would go on to win numerous awards and be inducted into the Music Video Producer’s Hall of Fame.

“I still think it’s one of the greatest videos ever made,” he says.

DeLorenzo, who would go on to star in the comedy series “Head of the Class” and the police drama “New York Undercover,” started his Hollywood career as a dancer. He played a dance student in the 1980 movie “Fame,” and two years later was cast to play a similar recurring role in the television series based on that film.

In early 1983, when music videos were still a new concept, dancers had a new forum where they could showcase their talent. Much of the credit for the dance-infused music videos of the time goes to Jackson, says DeLorenzo, 49.

“He changed the way people did videos,” he says. “He made them an art form.”

While many other videos at the time were either concert videos or images of musicians performing in front of cheap-looking backdrops on dimly-lit sets, the video for “Beat It” played out like a short film.

Made on a budget of $150,000, the video, directed by Bob Giraldi, told the story of two rival gangs getting ready for a showdown, only to peacefully resolve their differences. Its choreography by Tony Award winner Michael Peters, including the mass dance number at the video’s end, resembled a Broadway stage production.