‘Roots’ revived and is still as pertinent as ever
History’s remake strives for more authentic depictions
With Black Lives Matter movement, timing couldn’t be better, producer says.
After four decades,
NEW YORK Roots is still as pertinent as ever.
In 1977, the landmark ABC miniseries brought the horrors of American slavery to the forefront of pop culture and shattered ratings records. Tracking the lives of enslaved protagonist Kunta Kinte (LeVar Burton) and his family, the century-spanning drama was anchored by themes of identity, heritage and confronting one’s past to move forward — ideas which are revisited in History’s four-part remake, premiering Monday (9 ET/PT).
Burton, a co-executive producer on the revival, says the timing of Roots’ return couldn’t be more appropriate. Recent movements such as Black Lives Matter and #OscarsSoWhite have rocked headlines, while topics of race and blackness continue to spill over into popular music from Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar.
“We are clearly engaged in the conversation in America and it’s one where everybody needs to be involved,” says Burton, 59. “If you are living in America right now, then the story of slavery is relevant to you, because it’s shaped the country and the culture in which you live, whether you want to admit that or not.”
True Blood’s Anna Paquin, who appears in Roots as a Confederate officer’s fiancée, echoes Burton’s sentiments.
“I can’t think of a time when this story wasn’t (relevant),” says Paquin, 33. “It’s really important, as a culture, not to forget the really ugly, dark period in history. Sometimes, the further you get away from it, the more people want to think it’s not relevant anymore, but that’s not true. Peo- ple need to be reminded so that hopefully, we eventually do move forward as a species. I certainly don’t think we’re there yet.”
Based in part on Alex Haley’s 1976 novel, the four-night, eighthour Roots remake (also airing on Lifetime and A&E) stars newcomer Malachi Kirby as Kunta, an African warrior who is kidnapped and sold into slavery in the United States in the late 1700s. Although he didn’t watch the original until his early 20s, Kirby says his introduction to the character came much earlier.
Where he grew up in the U.K., “it was a negative thing to be African,” says Kirby, 26. “I’m Jamaican, which is not quite African, but I was still black and called Kunta Kinte as a dis. That was my first acknowledgement of this story before I knew what it was.”
Kirby initially was skeptical about a Roots reboot, as was Burton, who says, “I thought, ‘Nobody would be that stupid. What’s the point?’ ” It wasn’t until Burton got a call from Mark Wolper, whose father produced the first miniseries, that he understood.
Wolper showed the original to his 16-year-old son, who said, “‘Dad, I get why this is important, but it’s like your music: I know that you like it, but it doesn’t speak to me,’ ” Burton says. “Mark felt in that moment, ‘Wow, if I’m ever going to get my children and their generation to understand the importance of this, I’m going to need to remake it for a modern sensibility.’ ”
That meant, Wolper says, revisiting the book and dropping white characters’ perspectives added to the original series. He also hired historians for research and factchecking. “The use of language and the N-word, the intensity and the violence — that had to be authentic,” he says. “Audiences are savvy today. They can smell when something is not authentic.”