In the Reinaldo Marcus Green-directed new biopic, “Bob Marley: One Love,” “Barbie” star Kinglsey Ben-Adir stars as the eponymous reggae music icon in a film that chronicles one of the most pivotal times in his career.
Starring opposite “The Woman King” and “No Time to Die” star Lashana Lynch and produced by Marley’s son Ziggy and wife Rita, the feature gives a more in-depth look at the man behind the music and delves into both his creative process, relationship with his wife, bandmates and Jamaica at-large. And while there are a plethora of things folks may already know about Marley due to his large and long-standing cultural impact for Ben-Adir, Lynch and Green—they sat down with The Root to share a few surprising things they learned about the “One Love” singer while filming.
“I thought I knew Bob because he’s so much a part of the culture and just every shop you go into, they’re playing Bob and his pictures. We have an idea of him but really, when I check it I didn’t really know much at all,” Ben-Adir explained to The Root. “I didn’t even know there was a shooting, I didn’t know how long he spent in London, I didn’t know anything really. And then how we made the movie was with his family and with his friends, so I got to spend a huge amount of time with them and they put their trust in me. They got to share in so many beautiful stories. To try to define Bob as a human and as a man, there’s only so many books you can read. You can’t find that information in there, you have to be with the people who knew him.”
He later added:
“What I really, really came to under stand though was that Bob was a man from the ghetto. Yeah he was born in Saint Ann [parrish], but he grew up in Trenchtown and it was rough. To think of him there as a child, to where he got to and what he achieved and what he’s done for the culture and, you know, and and music and, and it’s really, it’s really, otherworldly.
For Lynch, it was the relationship between Marley and his wife that brought the most enlightenment, particularly “dedication that they had for one another and their journeys, both as individuals, but also as a union.”
“When I read in Mrs. Marleys words, ‘like a sibling love,’ like she loved him also like a sibling: it really kind of reframed the level of love that you’d have to have for someone like Bob in the position that he was in. And again, the level of commitment that she would have to have to herself in order to love herself correctly or to give her love to this man.”
Lynch also shared how Rita Marley helped redefine the word “fierce” and credited her for encompassing a level of grace, poise and light that helped to make her portrayal that much more three-dimensional.
Director Green echoed similar sentiments to Lynch with regard to the Marley’s relationship and revealed that he was also surprised at how “regimented” the “Jamming” singer was and how he worked around the clock to make sure he and his bandmates were always at the top of their game.
“There’s just this assumption that the music just, like, came out of nowhere, you know. Not only was he talented, but he worked for that. And I think anybody can can relate to that, anybody that works hard for something. And he worked relentlessly. He worked tirelessly. He was a workaholic,” Green said. “It’s like this idea that he just never slept. And he worked around the clock and he worked relentlessly because maybe he felt like he didn’t have enough time and he had to get it out. And I think I just respect his journey so much more, knowing how much effort he put into it.”
“His work ethic, his genius—he created it. It was something that he worked at, and it makes me love him even more,” he concluded.
“Bob Marley: One Love” is in theaters everywhere now.