‘All American’ Newbie Nathaniel McIntyre Says ‘Michael’ Biopic ‘Was a Dope Experience’ (Exclusive)

Nathaniel McIntyre has landed his breakout TV role ahead of the fall release of the Michael Jackson biopic. 

In a recent joint interview with his cast mates and PEOPLE to discuss the latest season of All American, the 21-year-old actor proudly shared what to expect of the musical drama, which is slated to arrive in October 2025.

“I play young Jackie Jackson in the movie. It was a dope experience. I love that movie so much,” McIntyre tells PEOPLE. “I’m excited for everyone to see it. Yeah, that’s going to be a good one, for sure.”

His role as one of the members of the Jackson 5 in Michael was first announced in February 2024.

The late King of Pop’s 28-year-old nephew Jaafar Jackson will play the Thriller artist in the upcoming Antoine Fuqua-directed film.

Until then, McIntyre can be seen as KJ — the new starting QB at Beverly High and son of Osy Ikhile’s Coach Cassius Jeremy — in season 7 of the CW drama series All American.

McIntyre tells PEOPLE that when the new season premiered on Monday, Feb. 3, he was hesitant to see what viewers were saying online.

“I’ll be honest, I try to stay off of social media, but it’s hard,” he says. “I’ll just be scrolling through my TikTok and all I see is my face and KJ and Amina like, ‘Oh my God. I love their relationship,’ and stuff like that. So, it’s hard to stay away from it.”

In the series, McIntyre’s character KJ befriends Alexis Chikaeze’s “Amina.” 

The pair seem to be heading towards a budding romance, but their relationship becomes complicated as Amina also has feelings for Khalil — a troubled teen and member of Beverly High’s rival, the Crenshaw Chargers (played by Antonio J. Bell).

“Amina is probably one of my favorite characters because she’s one of the first people to really believe in Khalil, and it’s almost as if she’s on a mission to save him in some ways. And you have Jordan and all these other folks that come in as well,” Bell tells PEOPLE.

Michael Evans Behling returns to All American as Jordan Baker, the new coach of the Crenshaw Chargers, and takes Khalil under his wing. 

McIntyre tells PEOPLE that Evans Behling has similarities to his character. 

“I think it was the first or second week, Michael invited some of the younger guys out to dinner,” McIntyre says.

“We had a nice long talk, he gave us the reins on everything, let us know what we should be doing, what we need to continue to do, and how we need to be humble, have a good attitude. Because it’s very important to keep the morale high on set. So, he definitely gave us some tips,” he tells PEOPLE.

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McIntyre, Ikhile, Chikaeze and Bell are new to the series. In addition to Evans Behling as Jordan Baker, Greta Onieogou returns as Layla and Bre-Z as Coop.

Season 7 of All American premiered on Monday, Feb. 3, on The CW and new episodes will air on Mondays at 8 p.m. ET. 

Seasons 1 to 6 of All American are available on Netflix.