Forest Whitaker, Anna Paquin, Anika Noni Rose, Derek Luke And More Added To Roots RemakePosted by Wilson Morales
September 16, 2015
A+E Networks has announced that Oscar winners Forest Whitaker and Anna Paquin, along with Derek Luke, Anika Noni Rose, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Erica Tazel, Chad L. Coleman and newcomer Regé-Jean Page have been cast in “Roots,” its epic miniseries based on Alex Haley’s 1976 novel as well as other researched material.
They join Academy Award nominee and Emmy Award winning actor Laurence Fishburne, who is set to star as Alex Haley and British actor Malachi Kirby, who won the coveted role of Kunta Kinte.
Roots starts shooting next month in South Africa and New Orleans and will air the four-night, eight-hour scripted event series in 2016 on Lifetime, A+E and the History Channel.
ROOTS is a historical portrait of American slavery recounting the journey of one family’s will to survive, endure and ultimately carry on their legacy despite enormous hardship and inhumanity. Spanning multiple generations, the lineage begins with young Kunta Kinte who is captured in his homeland in The Gambia and transported in brutal conditions to colonial America where he’s sold into slavery. Throughout the series, the family continues to face adversity while bearing witness and contributing to notable events in U.S. history – including the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, slave uprisings and eventual emancipation. The story of Kunta Kinte and the women and men who came after him echoes through the history of millions of Americans of African descent, and reveals powerful truths about the universal resilience of the human spirit.
Multi-award winning Mario Van Peebles and two-time Oscar nominee Bruce Beresford are set to direct nights two and four, respectively. Previously-announced multi-award winning Phillip Noyce (Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger, Salt) and Emmy® Award winner Thomas Carter (Coach Carter, Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story) are set to helm nights one and three respectively. Additionally, Questlove, from the Grammy Award winning band The Roots, is set as the executive music producer. For ROOTS, he will create the authentic African sound and themes for the characters as well as produce the overall sound as the music progresses each night.
Forest Whitaker will play Fiddler, a slave who tries to mentor Kunta Kinte and ends up risking his own life to help him escape.
Anna Paquin plays Nancy Holt, the wife of a Confederate officer who happens to have her own agenda when it comes to handling the slaves.
Derek Luke plays Silla Ba Dibba, a military trainer charged with transforming teen boys into powerful Mandinka Warriors.
Anika Noni Rose plays Kizzy, Kunta Kinte’s cherished, smart daughter who maintains her family pride and warrior spirit.
Jonathan Rhys Meyers plays Tom Lea, an uneducated slave owner who is desperate to claw his way into the elite company of Southern gentility.
Erica Tazel plays Matilda, a preacher’s daughter and love interest to Chicken George.
Chad L. Coleman plays Mingo, the stern no-nonsense slave who really keeps the Lea plantation afloat.
Regé-Jean Page plays Chicken George, Kizzy’s son who is a handsome social magnet. He knows how to transfix a crowd with a story, yet doesn’t appreciate what he has until his luck abandons him.
ROOTS is an A+E Studios production in association with Marc Toberoff and The Wolper Organization, the company that produced the original ROOTS. Will Packer, Marc Toberoff, Mark Wolper, Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal serve as executive producers. LeVar Burton and Korin Huggins are co-executive producers. Lawrence Konner, Mark Rosenthal, Alison McDonald, and Charles Murray are writing. Dirk Hoogstra, Arturo Interian and Michael Stiller serve as Executives in Charge of Production for HISTORY. ROOTS is distributed internationally by A+E Networks under the A+E Studios International banner.
