Hollywood actor Kingsley Ben-Adir, the star of the “Bob Marley: One Love” film set for release on February 14, says capturing the essence of Bob Marley‘s music was the most challenging part of making the film. “The music—all of it—was a challenge. Trying to find Bob’s voice was a challenge, but a beautiful challenge and one that I relish. The process of finding Bob with his family and friends is truly unique,” Ben-Adir told movie reviewer Damian Michaels of TVJ ER at the red carpet premiere in Kingston last Tuesday.
“Sometimes you find characters on your own, and you figure stuff out, but I had access to his family, his friends, and his loved ones, and all of the Jamaican people that helped me find him, you know,” he continued.
As for his favorite Bob Marley song, Ben-Adir says it’s “So Jah Seh.”
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In a clip shared by Billboard on Fridays Kingsley is seen performing the 1977 hit Jamming as Bob Marley in the movie.
The “Bob Marley: One Love” biopic by Paramount Pictures, Plan B, and Tuff Gong Pictures is the first full length feature film on the life of reggae’s most successful artist.
The film predominantly takes place between 1976 and 1978 in the aftermath of Bob, his wife Rita, and manager Don Taylor surviving an assassination attempt on his life. During this time, Marley imposed an exile on himself in the UK while Jamaica was going through a turbulent political period, being a proxy to the Cold War between Russia and the United States.
While in the UK, Marley found similarities with the punk music scene and incorporated non-reggae musicians into his sound to make the albums “Exodus” and “Kaya” and would eventually return to Jamaica for a “One Love” peace concert on 22 April 1978. The height of the event was during Marley’s performance of “Jammin'” when he called onstage the leaders of Jamaica’s two political parties Edward Seaga (JLP) and Michael Manley (PNP) to hold hands in-front of 50,000 people, packed in the National Stadium.
Ben-Adir, born in the UK, has never lived in Jamaica, nor did he experience those turbulent times, but Marley’s image, music and message are revered globally. “Exodus” is hailed by Time Magazine as the Album Of The Century, and “One Love” is voted as the Song of the Millennium.
Filming took place over 25 days for the movie, with half of the scenes being shot on location in Jamaica and the other half in the U.K.
The film’s musical director is eight-time Grammy winner Stephen Marley, while Island Records and Tuff Gong will be releasing a seven-track “One Love” EP featuring Bloody Civilian, Skip Marley, Kacey Musgraves, Daniel Caesar, Wizkid, Jessie Reyez, and Leon Bridges singing renditions of Bob Marley’s songs.
“Natural Mystic,” “Exodus,” “Waiting in Vain,” “Three Little Birds,” and “One Love” are from “Exodus” (1977).
