“Woman King” Star Lashana Lynch Set to Play Rita Marley

Recently, Lashana Lynch, the British actress who will play Rita Marley in Paramount Pictures’ upcoming Bob Marley biopic, shared behind-the-scenes footage of her preparation.

Lynch, 35, who appeared in the Woman King and No Time To Die, shared a post where she included a picture of an actor’s chair with the name “Rita Marley”, two video clips, and a photo of Rita when she was young.

Rita is captured in her natural element in one of the short clips, enthusiastically dancing and expressing herself through the music that she would later describe as a spiritual experience.

Lynch’s video is a clip of Bob Marley performing Jammin’, which appears to be from his 1977 Live at the Rainbow performance. There is a close-up of Rita who was at the time a member of the iconic I-Threes with Marcia Griffiths and Judy Mowatt.

In Lynch’s Instagram post, there’s another video in which Rita appears to be speaking about Bob.

The short clip shows her saying: “He is ordained by God himself. He wasn’t a worldly man. He wasn’t a man of this world really. He wasn’t a man of material. He’s more a spiritual man. He had a work to do and he has done it”, showing admiration for her late husband.

Kingsley Ben-Adir will portray Bob Marley, Reggae pioneer, and legend, in the yet-to-be-named biopic set for release on January 12, 2024.

With the amazingly gifted Lynch starring alongside him as Rita, great things are expected from the Reinaldo Marcus Green-directed film. Despite initial backlash regarding the film’s casting, excitement persists.

Initially, Jamaicans disapproved of Lynch’s and Ben-Adir’s casting, suggesting they be replaced by Jamaican actors. Despite this, it was reported they dominated their respective auditions despite only one of them having Jamaican heritage (Lynch).

Ziggy, Rita, and Cedella Marley, representing Tuff Gong as producers, also loved the actors.