Why have you decided to remake Roots after so many years?
Burton: People have very short memories, and they say those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it. This is a story that is part and parcel of the civilisation of this planet. As such, it’s a story that we need to retain in our very souls, so that we do not repeat the horrors and the atrocities of a slave trade. There is slavery going on as we speak, and unless good people of conscience stand up and tell these stories, there’ll be more.
You probably have a longer involvement with Roots than anyone else. What has it been like living your adult life and now returning to Roots as a producer?
Burton: Well, Roots was my first job. In fact, it was my first professional audition. I was 19 and it changed my life. Coming back to this project again, 40 years later, is really extraordinary. I used to think that life was very much a linear journey, but this experience has really shown me that it’s really circular in nature. I’ve come back to this same place, with this same project, but with a whole new cast of characters, both in front of and behind the camera. Even though the story is intimately familiar to me, it feels very different.
So, you’re now with our new-vision Roots. Tell us about the experience of finding the ‘right’ Kunta Kinte.
Burton: You have to get the audience connected, and it’s through Kunta Kinte that the audience is really drawn into this story. If you don’t form an emotional attachment with Kunta, you won’t pay attention. There was an exhaustive search in several continents for several months. New York, London, Los Angeles, all over the world we looked, and we found the right actor in Malachi Kirby.
Mark, we’re now about to premiere Roots for an international audience. What does the audience need to know in preparing to experience your vision?
Wolper: It’s been a burden, the decision to even contemplate doing this again. I was afraid to walk in the shadow of my father. Also, to try to create a project that has such global impact as the first Roots did. It was a supremely frightening proposition, and so I resisted doing it for many years.
It wasn’t until about four years ago that I sat my 16 year old son down to watch the original Roots that his grandfather did. He couldn’t watch it. I had to physically force him to sit down and watch it. He said “Dad, I understand why it’s important to you, but like your music, it doesn’t speak to me.” It was in that moment that I realised why I have to get over my fear and try to tell the story again.
There’s a whole new generation around the world that don’t know the story and need to see it, because these people that they’re talking about are real people. This is real history and I have an obligation foremost to have made this Roots for my 16 year old son, so he’ll sit down, watch it and have the same experience I had when I saw my father’s Roots.
I believe there were some creative choices in remaking Roots that are unique to the miniseries as an art form. Can you tell us what is so unique?
Wolper: I knew that I had to find the right partner, or someone that was going to give me all the tools that I needed to make it. History channel and A&E Studios really did convince me and subsequently gave us all the tools that we needed to tell the story the right way, to make it better than the first one.
Each episode of this miniseries is different. We tell the same story, but we have four distinct directors that made four completely different movies. We had each filmmaker approach their film through the eyes of the character that is central to each episode.