Anika Noni Discusses the Upcoming 'Roots' Remake, and the Importance of Telling this Story
Roots debuted to critical and commercial acclaim back in 1977 on ABC, going on to win nine Emmy's. With History remaking the classic series for a modern audience, Anika Noni Rose discussed her role as Kunta Kinte's daughter Kizzy.
The story follows Kinte as he is captured in Africa and his subsequent enslavement in colonial America, and the lives of his descendants. Kizzy aims to carry on her father's legacy.
“I’m very proud of being able to be a part of this and bring it back for a new generation of audiences,” Rose tells Variety. “Because it is ours. It is the story of America. I’m proud to be able to bring it back and make it relevant again.”
"I was being considered for another part and then I went in and met with the producer and the director and they were like, “What would you think about Kizzy?” I went back and reread the script, and I just found her to be a real woman in the script, not somebody in extended little-girldom, and I found that very interesting.
"She has a journey where she is trying to care for her son, raise a man in a time where black men were not allowed to be men, and raise him with a sense of dignity and responsibility and knowledge of self. All really intense challenges, and something very interesting to play.
"I think it’s important to tell the story again because I think that it is the foundation of this country. Because if we don’t tell this story, of the enslaved human in the United States from Africa, how do we remember that it happened? How do we not start to change the narrative? We have take away the stigma of guilt, of shame, because ultimately, although it’s a horrific story, it is also a story of intense survival and perseverance.
"I think this country is going through a major upheaval. I think that it’s really important for people to recognize where we’ve come as a country, how far we’ve come, and yet how far we have to go. In this time where this is the craziest election I think I’ve seen, you could maybe feel like you don’t want to vote this year, because you’re scared.
"But when you look at this story, you see what people went through just simply for the right to vote, to be treated as human beings."
Roots returns on History on Monday, May 30, at 9PM.
Source: Variety
