Ziggy Marley Speaks on Making ‘Bob Marley: One Love’ “Authentic” and Telling the Story His Family Wanted to Tell – Watch Interview

With the importance and significance of his father Bob Marley’s message of ‘one love’ at the forefront of his mind, Ziggy Marley says he and his family worked to make the Bob Marley: One Love biopic authentic.

Following its premiere in January, Bob Marley: One Love was released in theatres internationally on Valentine’s Day. The film was executive produced by Ziggy, who shared that his family initiated the idea to do the film.

Speaking with Billboard, Ziggy explained that it was the first time his family took the initiative to reach out to prospective partners to create a project about his father and make it an “authentic” story that they wanted to tell. Citing the current state of the world, the Love is My Religion singer said it was the right time to share his father’s message of ‘one love’ with a global audience.

The Making Of One Love Film

He also discussed the process of making the film, which was a first for him.

According to Ziggy, the movie went through changes up to the last minute, and it was a true community project that saw both him and the director, Reinaldo Marcus Green, openly sharing ideas.

Speaking on casting British actor Kingsley Ben-Adir as his father, Ziggy said the role required someone capable of more than just being able to perform a Jamaican accent. 

“Our first idea was, let’s get somebody who know to talk Jamaican. It will be so easy if you already know the dialect [ … ] But the most important thing for us was to capture somebody, get somebody who could capture the emotion of Bob, not just the dialect or even the look,” Ziggy stated,

Ziggy said after various auditions from actors from Jamaica, Trinidad, England and America, Ben-Adir was the one that grabbed their attention. In regards to the casting of Lashana Lynch as his mother, Rita Marley, Ziggy said the actress, who has a Jamaican mother, brought another level of authenticity to the film.

“We all had the same intentions, Kingsley, Lashana, myself. Even as the creative side of things, outside of the studio, we were like listen, if the studio messing with us or if they ain’t getting this right, we’re not gonna do it [ … ] because wi can’t mess with Bob, and we can’t mess with Jamaica,” Ziggy stated.

Watch the Interview below: