WATCH: Reinaldo Marcus Green On Preserving The Legacy Of Bob Marley

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The ‘One Love’ director sat down with ESSENCE to discuss the biopic chronicling the life and career of reggae’s most iconic artist.

Transcript

00:00 Yeah, I mean, I think Bob was a revolutionary who believed in getting his message of unity

00:06 and peace and love to the world, spreading that message.

00:10 So yeah, he was a musician, he was a revolutionary, he was somebody that thought of others before

00:16 he thought of himself.

00:19 So yeah, that's what I would say.

00:20 Who you want to start with?

00:31 From the beginning.

00:36 Reggae is a people music.

00:39 People coming together.

00:40 You know you're a superstar.

00:46 You're a superstar.

00:52 Bob had many, many moments during his 36 years.

00:56 Why did you decide to hone in on this particular portion or facet of his life?

01:00 Yeah, it was a critical time of musical creation, musical genius.

01:06 Bob left us with Exodus, which was arguably one of the greatest albums of the 20th century.

01:11 So an outpouring of music at that time.

01:14 He also created Kaya, 1976.

01:17 We know what happened to Bob, assassination attempt on his life, on Rita's life, on his

01:23 family.

01:24 So what he must have been going through personally, emotionally at that time.

01:29 And then obviously we know that he returned to Jamaica, one of the biggest political in

01:35 history of Jamaica, what happened on stage at Small Jamaica.

01:39 So that felt like an inherent kind of structure to a film, to capture before he gets really

01:45 sick or really ill.

01:47 This is a celebration of Bob's life.

01:49 And we wanted to do that through the creation of music.

01:53 The genius of who he was as a creator.

01:57 So yeah, with this obviously in two hours, impossible to tell a man's life in two hours.

02:04 And so we felt like we needed to be more specific in that way.

02:08 And then choose, obviously we chose some flashes to his early life to help support that.

02:14 But inevitably, yeah, you have to make some choices.

02:17 So the film's central characters, Bob and Rita, played by Ben and Lashana, what was

02:22 it about those two that made you say, "Hey, I want these two to play the Martys"?

02:26 Well we looked.

02:27 We looked for a year to find Bob Marley, over a year.

02:31 Certainly looked every tape that came in.

02:35 And Kingsley's was by far the best that we had seen.

02:41 And I needed an actor who would go on the journey of becoming Bob.

02:47 Or a version of Bob, which I think is an interpretation, not a mimic.

02:53 And I think he does a tremendous job in the film.

02:56 So once I found him, then it was finding, you know, obviously supporting him with a

03:00 cast around him.

03:02 Lashana Lynch is an incredible actress.

03:05 Them together, their energy is amazing.

03:07 Their scenes are incredible together.

03:09 They elevate each other in every scene.

03:11 They protect each other.

03:12 So yeah, they're the backbone to the movie.

03:18 And there was no doubt once I had cast them that we had the opportunity to make something

03:25 special.

03:26 Also, my last question, man, is when audiences leave the theater, what are some of the things

03:29 that you want them to take from this film?

03:31 Yeah, exactly what Bob was trying to do, was spread that message.

03:36 That's what Bob was trying to do through his music.

03:39 It's a religious movement, movement of Jap people.

03:45 Bob was trying to spread that message far to the world, to every corner of the world.

03:53 And that's what we're trying to do, is pass that with time.

03:54 [MUSIC PLAYING]

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