The show premières tonight at 9/8c and runs over four consecutive nights on The History Channel, Lifetime and A&E.
For those in the Nordics; The episodes air the day after their US date on HBONordic.
Cast
- Malachi Kirby as Kunta Kinte | Kunta Kinte, “the African,” member of the highly respected Kinte clan of the Mandinka people of Gambia. A warrior who is educated, clever, skilled, strong, resilient and proud, he is a young man of immense courage and spiritual fortitude – all traits that empower him when he is captured by slavers. Kunta never relinquishes his dream of returning to his homeland and never stops challenging the slaves born in America to fight for their freedom.
- Anika Noni Rose as Kizzy | The cherished and smart only child of Kunta Kinte and Belle who maintains her family pride and warrior spirit. She is trained to be a warrior by her father, remembering every story about Africa that her father ever told her. She is taught to read by her slave master's daughter, Missy. After being raped by her slave master, Tom Lea, she gives birth to her only son, George, the only grandchild of Kunta Kinte. She perpetuates the dreams and teachings of her father in the rearing of her son.
- Forest Whitaker as Fiddler | An urbane slave musician who is rented out by the Waller family to play for various plantations, he has “fiddled” his way out of the fields to what he thinks is an especially comfortable life. Fiddler is garrulous, a staunch friend to Kunta who mentors him but learns a great deal from him as well.
- Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Tom Lea | A poor farmer of Irish descent from the impoverished Carolina hill country. Craven, aspiring, though at times great fun, always suspicious and can't rise above a deep rooted jealousy of his betters. He buys Kizzy as a 15 year old and rapes her resulting in the birth of their son George whom he takes under his wing and teaches him about Cock fighting. He has a deep struggle that torments him in owning a slave this is in fact his son.
- Regé-Jean Page as Chicken George | Kizzy's clever, theatrical and resourceful son. A handsome social magnet who knows how to transfix a crowd with a story, yet doesn't appreciate what he has until his luck abandons him. He struggles with following his family traditions until he is abandoned by his true father, slave owner, Tom Lea.
- Anna Paquin as Nancy Holt | The Quaker fiancé of racist, pro-succession Confederate officer, Frederick Murray, who has her own agenda when it comes to the handling of slaves.
- Tip "T.I." Harris as Cyrus | A headstrong slave who fights for freedom for the Union Army against Confederate Forces whom befriends and help Chicken George.
- Laurence Fishburne as Alex Haley | The author of the novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family.
- Chad L. Coleman as Mingo | A stern no-nonsense slave/cock trainer for Tom Lea, who keeps the Lea plantation afloat. He befriends Chicken George and they bond like father and son.
- Erica Tazel as Matilda | A preacher's daughter, literate, modest and religious. She is swept away by the charm and attention of Chicken George and is the only woman that could tame him and soon thereafter becomes his wife and the mother to his eight children.
- Mekhi Phifer as Jerusalem | A mute slave who works on the Murray plantation, but who is not quite what he appears to be.
- Matthew Goode as Dr. William Waller | The educated, charming, more refined and successful younger brother of John Waller. William has a more benign manner in handling his slaves though he certainly believes in slavery.
- Emayatzy Corinealdi as Belle | The American born wife of Kunta Kinte and longtime favorite cook and housekeeper for Dr. William Waller. She gives Kunta Kinte a reason to live and stop running. She is the mother to Kunta's only child – a daughter named Kizzy, but lives with her own terrible secret, her two baby sons who were sold away from her when she was young before she was married to Kunta Kinte.
- Sedale Threatt Jr. as Tom | The youngest son of George and Matilda. Tom reacts to his father's spendthrift, wastrel and philandering ways by simply hiding his emotions. A quiet, handsome young man, Tom believes surviving slavery will only come through hard work as a blacksmith. The stories of his great grandfather, Kunta Kinte, resonate for him as parables of hard work and perseverance. He is provoked when he realizes that he cannot protect his wife and family by keeping his head down, and is inner warrior comes out during the Civil War.
- James Purefoy as John Waller | An English colonist who is the profligate owner of a Virginia tobacco plantation who buys Kunta Kinte as a slave upon his arrival in America. An alcoholic, deep in debt, braggart, more negligent than mean, he's unable to keep his farm vital without secret loans from his brother.
- Derek Luke as Silla Ba Dibba | Uncle of Kunta Kinte. A powerful Mandinka fighter who is battle-scarred and highly skilled in ways of combat - he helps train new warriors. He is an icon to the young men of Juffure and an inspiration to Kunta when they are both captured and sold to a slave ship.
AVClub: History Channel’s Roots remake is a worthy, if familiar, journey [B+]
Vulture: The New Roots Is More Scathing and Pulls Fewer Punches
Hitflix: History's 'Roots' admirably retells the story of an all-time classic
The Guardian: Roots remake: seminal slavery narrative still resonates in revamped miniseries
Variety: "the miniseries’ sincerity and its cumulative power can’t be denied"
Washington Post: History’s engaging new ‘Roots’ is faithful to the original and woke to the present
The Hollywood Reporter: An exciting young cast elevates this emotional, powerful remake of the 1977 landmark miniseries.
New York Times: ‘Roots’ for a Black Lives Matter Era
Articles
Vulture: Roots’ Cast and Creators on Slavery Narratives, Brutality on TV, and Nina Simone
The Guardian: Malachi Kirby on remaking Roots: ‘I could feel the pain, hear the screams'
New York Times: ‘Roots,’ Remade for a New Era
Washington Post: Can the new ‘Roots’ help us understand America’s current racial divide?
Washington Post: Everyone was talking about ‘Roots’ in 1977 — including Ronald Reagan
Videos
Trailer
Extended Sneak Peek
Roots: Cultural Connections
Roots' Legacy
Links
Official Website
