Rooted in Africa
Miniseries Roots tells the continent’s struggle against slavery in brutal honesty on free TV.
Set in The Gambia region of West Africa, four- episode drama series Roots (2016) follows the story of kidnapped warrior Kunta Kinte (Malachi Kirby, who played Wayne Ladlow in 2014 on soapie EastEnders, 1985- current) and his descendants who are enslaved in 1800s Louisiana. And it’s not pretty, with little chance of freedom. But that doesn’t stop Mandinka warrior Kunta and it didn’t stop the 26-year- old Brit playing him. “It [the story] pushed me to my limits and beyond,” explains Malachi. “There wasn’t one day that didn’t challenge me – physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally. It physically brought me to my knees.” Here are five things you need to know about Roots:
1 It’s a remake of the ’70s miniseries of the same name, based on 1976 novel Roots: The Saga Of An American Family by Alex Haley. Laurence Fishburne (Pops in sitcom Black-Ish, 2014- current) plays Alex and narrates Roots. 2 It was partly filmed in KwaZulu-Natal and features local actors like Nokuthula Ledwaba (Dumile in drama Umlilo, 2015-2016) as Kunta’s mother Binte, Mary Twala (MaKhambule in comedy Skwizas, 2010- current) and Pierre Malherbe (Henk in drama Stellenbosch, 2007). 3 The ship was a full-scale reproduction and Malachi says that “it was difficult to breathe with 200 men squashed in. That was for a few hours! Imagine months on the ocean!” 4 The remake was coexecutive produced by LeVar Burton (Geordi La Forge in sci-fi series Star Trek: The Next Generation, 1987-1994) – he played Kunta in the original Roots. Blink and you’ll miss him cameoing as Ephraim in episode 1. 5 Jonathan Rhys Meyers (King Henry VIII in drama The Tudors, 2007-2010) got insomnia from playing “a vile, evil and despicable man like plantation owner Tom Lea. He’s a manifestation of everything that was wrong about the 19th century – he’s brutal! Brutal to his wife. Brutal to his slaves. Not a nice man at all!”