'Roots' Cast Opens Up About Remaking Classic Miniseries

The miniseries has been reimagined by the History Channel in a modern update to the multigenerational classic.
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[@Fridate]

I have no words. The acting in this series is the best I have ever seen. I am in awe.

[@mrsse1121]

it was extrordinarly done awesome i was 12 when the first one came out now 48 it was good snoop dog is tripping about a boycott it was shown so he lacked in his power to change the outcome

[@erickanew]

Are we watching the same series. The new actors are sorry especially the women. Not enough emotion like the original. No organization like the old one. Like Chicken George shot all those people and got away with it. Hell they'll hang a black man now for nothing. The new one was unrealistic and too violent. The older version is more for family.

[@urockit2011]

I agree. Granted, if it weren't for this remake, I wouldn't have ever picked up Roots or gone digging about the story. I'm part of the "new generation" they keep speaking of. I never realized how important it was for me to see and know this story until this release. I can't believe I've gone so long without knowing this story...

[@ethan3246]

+Tiara Wright maybe the real story was violent

[@fidelnenas8390]

Tone B read the book by Alex Haley. It’s the story of his family history going back to his African Ancestor. It was this mini series that encouraged people to do genealogy. The original was based on stories passed down through generations.

[@diamonds54987]

Anyone here after binging Bridgerton and now binging all of Reges interviews?

[@dearmaria4654]

Yes

[@tequilashots875]

No

[@sylviamoncrieff9044]

Yes

[@HERGist]

The truth? 😉 😉 😉

[@Zynn16]

Yes

[@jasmine_daville]

I saw the miniseries. I have such a newfound respect for all of my ancestors, I went to bed crying and thanking them, but also thanking God for leading my people into victory. Without their blood, sweat, hardworking tears, I wouldn't be where I am today. Bless them, Lord.

[@annpayton]

Our young black generation NEEDS to know their history and what our black ancestors had to endure with...even in this time today. Thank you, Levar Burton, the History Network, and all of the cast and crew who helped in remaking this story and bringing it back to the forefront of our American-African history!!

[@annpayton]

I understand your concerns Trinati Evans, but you need to understand that White people has NEVER BEEN STRIPPED from their ancestral history, unlike Black people were....Black Americans today have no idea of what Tribe/Colony/Country in Africa that they actually belong to or come from...White people do know their European ancestry....

[@nuknuknuk111]

absolutely

[@notsureiL]

MarCor Never thought about it in that way.

[@reerbaadia1896]

I couldn't hold my tears. the whole series. I once had my 1 year old daughter. I'm thankful she only knows how to react to hugs but hasn't got a clue what my tears are for. I have the orginal roots Dvd set and will buy the most expensive blue ray if available of this new series. I'll keep them safe and show them together with my daughter when she can handle it. very powerful.

[@ToneB]

MarCor This history is inaccurate. How many blacks were actually slaves? Could it be like 12% of the 500 million black folks in America? My people were never slaves and owned one of the largest black owned bus systems in NC. What about the black men in the 1500's who purchased Anglo men, women and children as slaves from European robber barons? You need to dig deeper. The so called African American is held hostages in his and her own land. Dr. King told us but all we hear repeatedly is," I have a dream speech. While our children just devour the Roots soap operas and opinions as truth smh.

[@skylanfreire3552]

Anika is so beutiful among those fine looking men.

[@chrissee20071]

Bridgerton brought me here. I love Regé - Jean.

[@kyliaspencer4897]

Yesss. Been in love with Rege ever since I saw Roots

[@chrissee20071]

@@kyliaspencer4897 well you saw him first so he’s yours! 😁 happy new year! X

[@kyliaspencer4897]

@@chrissee20071 best message I’ve gotten today omg!!! Girl happy news years fo you too!

[@mareerogers1114]

Brigerton brought me here as well. His true breakout role is in Brigerton as the Duke! That outfit, knee high black boots and the way he jumped off his horse. That's one of the most memorable iconic entrances I've seen on screen in a long time. Essai Morales on a motorcycle entrance in LaBamba was another iconic cinematic entrance!

[@godididiya9091]

Mee too 😂😂😂😂

[@emmanuelmoses7249]

I still need that Frederick Douglass movie.

[@diceroller7826]

this is the most powerful series I've seen in my life

[@Xgeneration28]

couldn't believe how good it was. it's the most gripping tv series I've ever watched. The actors were brilliant.

[@tams.114]

I purchased the old series for my younger son. He's 18 now and he still hasn't seen it. He's brainwashed thinking that's our history and he doesn't need to know about it. I am proud of my ancestors. I am here because someone in my family line didn't quit. That's amazing to me🙌🙌🙌🙌. I'm glad they remade roots for new generations.

[@TheAlixtxe]

When we do not have our own family records,and parts of the one we do know are quite painful, it is good to see our HUMAN history through someone else's family story. I just watched the old series- here on KZbin- and I do not want to watch the new one... no remake necessary... the old and original, just liek history, is beautiful to watch.. and painful.. but there is always hope, there is always hope!

[@palaceofbrilliance6164]

It would be nice if he decides some day that he wants to know about it. I did family research in March and found all the places my ancestors went to. (the old records are publicly available where I live. the place of origin was always written down as well as the place of residence and the job. so sometimes it was heartbreaking to see where they lived or that they had to change every few years, but it also teaches you something about yourself and maybe helps you to understand certain things. my siblings don't find it interesting or necessary to know, which is sad, I hope they just as your son ll want to know more some day. I just found out about it now ( I m not American), but I d like to read the book and then watch the series.

[@thepineapple8434]

History is the foundation if who we are today. I hope he understands that one day. The ignorance of history is a recipe for failure in the future.

[@Ambtran2023]

The greatest show ever made in the history of TV.

[@StrengthofSalvation]

I've never cried so much, this movie had me in tears for days.

[@Supreme_AK-47]

i personally like the acting more in the new roots vs the Original.

[@georgelaura4077]

the history of kunte kinte is not just the history of america and africa, it is the history of black people no matter whether you are African american,African or Afro-carribean or any other ethnicity

[@OlaitanFajr]

agreed

[@velettafacey5753]

I don't care who want to boycott Roots. I am truly great full for the actors and producer who remake this film I have seen the changes in my children especially my ten year old son....he has taken more interest in his reading and doing his chores without me telling him..and most off all show more love to me and his sister because of the love kizzi had for children and how kunta was a strong family . most children now a days have a sense of entitlement with how hard work , purpose and respected...I hope that this move will help our young men and women to honour there parents and choose wisely when choosing a mate and build good family bonds... as a Jamaica woman I am very proud of all the actors of roots then and now . Great work ladies and gentlemen.

[@gorgeouslady5612]

it is hard for some children and teenagers to change even if you were to give them a million dollars?. you have to want to change for yourself!. i wanted to get clean and sober for myself i walked into the treatment center. i was the first walk in in the history of that treatment center.

[@maitaku7775]

Super Proud of our very own Regererai-Jean Page and how he always mentions being raised in Hre-Zimbabwe..You were "raised right" and it shows son...Rooting for you and Makorokoto on all that's happening with Bridgerton and beyond..

[@tequilashots875]

Raised right? Wtf?

[@straw1berry11]

@@tequilashots875 I think what the original commentor meant with "raised right" is that Page was taught to be proud of his culture. I hope that cleared up your confusion compadre.

[@texasbelle333]

This remake was definitely needed! At first I was like " Why do we continue to make movies about slavery?" but when I watched the remake I remembered exactly why it was needed. They want us to forget what they did to us and continue to promote integration and act as if slavery never existed.

[@wolfwind1]

Goodness, you could not be more wrong.

[@ranaowens5537]

The problem is they want to make it like slavery never happened, but it did. Chances are my own ancestors owned slaves as one of my decendants was a famous Civil War general from the South. I can't ignore the fact that he owned or probably owned slaves any more than that his daughter left home and married a full-blooded Cherokee Indian, my great-great grandfather.

[@texasbelle333]

B T that’s your opinion ♥️

[@texasbelle333]

Papa Lazarou 1. I’m not a slave to the democratic plantation. 2. I’m not a slave to the republican plantation. 3. Candace Owens doesn’t speak for me.

[@texasbelle333]

Rana Owens I agree! And we need to remember. I recently traced my genealogy and found that two of my ancestors were slave owners. And one of them actually married a free black woman.

[@sapphael.]

Have never ever cried more in my life than watching this, particularly episode 4 but absolutely all of it. So ashamed about how Black people were treated. So ashamed to see that after all this time we haven't really come that far at all.

[@janiecarson2910]

I hate so much what happened to my family I wish I new where I came from to tell my children this hurt my heart so bad and I have so much hate in my heart I j use want to know why?????

[@MrSeablitz]

I really enjoyed it. Would recommend this to every family.

[@aicha7377]

Rodolfo Jarvis every racist family

[@jalo7289]

xxaicha how is watching a historic tv show racist?? people must know what caputured Africans had to go through everyday

[@quinnikadentmond5252]

it was amazing I have watched it three times.🙌😀😁☺

[@alexistribble6279]

So did I 😉

[@dreamerof93]

Sameeee like when can I buy it

[@user-kw1lr6ln1n]

pleased to know Jonathan is here

[@ninatravis7791]

Jonathan is so handsome! I have loved his work since Bend it Like Becham. Malachi is new and truly handsome too. Anika and Rege-Jean spoke truth about why this story should be told. All of the actors did an excellent job!

[@tomlesnar6453]

@Ken Williams jonathan is 100x more hotter than rege. most mixed black people look like arabs,which isnt considered pretty.

[@mariamuthoki9530]

@@tomlesnar6453 of course u think that. Ask a woman won't u

[@leroycox77]

this changed me

[@manjulanilsson6011]

Jonathan Rhys Myers is good at playing furious characters. 👍

[@jokicu7926]

Black brothers!Love from Serbia!

[@saramarshall2957]

The remake was so well done and I think more authentic and accurate than the first but in fairness it is a 40 years later and films in general have bigger and better productions

[@ogochukwuaka3213]

Anything Regé, I am watching.

[@SarahRamsingh]

Send this to KANYE.

[@onataclyce4845]

I was crying

[@speedyflygirl3107]

I never saw the first one, but I just saw this one and it was awesome!! Really wonderful, fantastic, heartbreaking movie. 😭💔💗

[@husainmotala8339]

Watched the first episode of this and a brilliant series with absolutely amazing acting, honestly so brutal and got me so depressed that I couldn't sleep that night visualizing what the horrors those slaves had to go through. That whipping scene, where he was made to lose he's proud warrior name really got me to tears, especially knowing how factual it is that some slaves were whipped to death including kids. The world seems to have forgotten some of the horrors of the past and a great was to bring it back to memory. I'm actually not Gna watch the rest of the series because it may be a bit to brutal for me knowing it has happened so long ago and I am so helpless in helping another human being and just more nights of thinking of the horrors those "slaves" have been through.

[@user-fx9nu4ji3i]

was amazing! everybody did an amazing job!!!

[@Sunny-ut8wj]

Wonderful. And great acting. Just loved it.

[@stef012]

This series is awesome.Everyone should watch it

[@desiannjordine4121]

Love from Jamaica

[@user-vl2nd2cc7v]

Makes ms feel better 2 see them alive n well

[@krabbykrabby8818]

Was speechless after watching this, humans can be so cruel.

[@TYB1970]

I said that. And to be able to endure that boat ride! I'd rather have been BORN a slave than born free and captured then sail over here the way they did. Total dark, right up on each other, in horrible pain with your cuts and bruises rubbing against those hard boards, laying in your own body waste, vomit, blood, sweat and your chainmates, sick as he'll, mosquitoes, gnats, rats around you, no windows, food is nasty and unsanitary etc. And if you're sick and they think your not going to make it? They throw you overboard. I always said they do not tell enough about having to endure that ride over here.

[@derrickchimanga1724]

Kunta,you are both Great,iam searching for season 3 but no seen it😥🇿🇲zambia

[@salahdtoure6572]

me encanta esa serie una de las mejores

[@211enlightenment]

JRM such a great actor

[@Lufigueroaa]

chicken george woah that accent

[@karenkumah9401]

Im grown woman and know these people are actors but i only watched this because had to make sure kuntakinte was ok after that whopping.... Thank God hes ok.🤣. Well done guys!

[@mariahsb7221]

Nothing like the original one!

[@alexandrebertrand-lafleur3114]

Jon Rhys-Meyers, the "King" in Roots!

[@danib1367]

Alexandre Bertrand-Lafleur he's an irish hottie

[@lindiwehlitana7851]

💚From 🇿🇦

[@ChristcentredNaturalgee]

Tom Lea played by Jonathan Rhys Meyers really made me mad

[@alejandrosakai1744]

I have never seen the original one, the remake was awesome thanks to that I met Malachi but with Rege, it was in Bridgeton! Greetings from Mexico!

[@rutendochatiza9540]

Zimbabwe

[@PerfectlyImperfect93]

Damn I love Anika Noni Rose!❤

[@mareerogers1114]

Glorious actor!

[@rkelly3199]

I still need that guy who plays kizzy first love

[@SteelTreeGone]

The slavery time I was crying , angry, those poor people, what they went through that time , if I were black I would be MAD Fucken MAD

[@blessingsbest6838]

Watched it again.. it wasn’t easy!!!!!!

[@dreamdisturber]

Holy Cow. I’m in the clip!

[@paschalinatv2280]

I love this movie

[@ShaundraLee1920]

Thanks to Rege-Jean I wish I had watched the new Roots but I refused because I loved the original series so much. I regret that.

[@kpopahjussi6379]

There was no need whatsoever to remake this classic. As usual, the idea-generating machine in Hollywood is stuck on "remake" rather than "try to have an original idea". The original was iconic.

[@musengechongo1767]

Just finished watching it and am dehydrated😢

[@gemmaaboagye8951]

Fanastic minisiries

[@bms77]

Damn new series made me cry lol

[@ballulee6629]

I cried several time during that movie

[@strangersbasketball]

watching this series made me sad how African Americans have lost their original culture and religion Islam. I believe that for them to be truly free they have to go back to this. Malcolm X was on the right path in saying that the true Islam is the answer to his people's problems. Islam is for everybody from anywhere around the world that calls for justice. In hope that African Americans can go back to their roots and be the leaders of this change in the US

[@strangersbasketball]

Warrior Lord regardless of the "roots" of what black people were, it is clear that all Americans consider Islam as a way of life. All politics aside, it is evident that Islam offers real justice for all. Christianity and Judaism simply don't.

[@Kemkem-it]

Fuck Islam it was forced on us by Arabs

[@mareerogers1114]

ADOS needs our reparations!

[@janiecarson2910]

Never forget nor forgive

[@momoiida5505]

Question: Do you believe in God and have you ask for his forgiveness ever in life? If so, how can you expect something from God that you aren't willing to do? Forgiveness is for your benefit. I'm only curious.

[@kwameadu0075]

The original is far better. The production value is better in the new one though.

[@suesmith3744]

The original broke my heart , haven’t seen this one ...

[@janiecarson2910]

This movie hurt my ❤

[@krystalharris1259]

Mr. Kirbyis FINE.

[@dall9329]

This new version of is better than the old one . But the old one had amazing cast

[@liveinms9949]

classics should be left alone

[@yolandagrizzard46]

The only thing that's upsetting me is that the only way this generation can see it as if they have cable or internet access

[@lureis6012]

👍😘💝💙💜

[@MariaJimenez-yq3uz]

Donde la puedo ver ,en español ???

[@alejandrosakai1744]

Eso fue por el 2016!

[@evelynebabbas7748]

SUPERBE SERIE LA CHRONIQUE DE BRIDGERTONE PAR CONTRE JE N AIME PAS DU TOUT LES SERIES SUR L ESCLAVAGE CAR CELA ME REVOLTE CAR UN ETRE HUMAIN PEU IMPORTE CA COULEUR A SA PLACE DANS LE MONDE LA PREUVE CAR LES ACTEURS DANS LA SERIE DE NETFIX SONT GENIAUX ET MAGNIFIQUES

[@msrainbowbrite]

My concern is people will focus on the brutality of what happened instead of trying to rise above and move on from it.

[@pizzaisgood6642]

But you can't really move on from something like this. I understand the forgiving part of it, but the brutality wasn't the only part mentioned in the series.

[@msrainbowbrite]

Teja Wells all those who were slaves are dead, why are their ancestors not moving forward?

[@A______88]

+MsRainbow Brite I live in Australia, and from afar it seems like the majority of white people are perpetuating that same "we are superior" type of behaviour towards the indigenous and black people of America it seems like a cycle that will sadly never end.

[@msrainbowbrite]

vana jensen as a kiwi, i see many black people use slavery as a reason not to succeed in life. a victim mentality

[@Sonia-uz7wn]

Remembering the stories of our ancestors does not mean that we have not moved on. Obviously, we have moved on and progressed since the first (of thousands) slave ships sailed the Atlantic Ocean. Our ancestors play a major role....EVEN TODAY!!! They represent where we come from, what they went through and how they survived. We ALL are here today because of the STRENGTH of our precious ancestors. WE ARE THEIR VOICES. We are the legacies that they left here when it was their time to go. Why should we be expected to move on and "forget about it"? Would you tell a Jewish descendant to get over the Holocaust? When Holocaust survivors and descendants speak of their journey...they are admired, respected and uplifted. Would you tell a Cherokee descendant to get over the Trail of Tears? If so...you are the one with the issues....not the rest of us. You lack knowledge, you lack compassion and you lack understanding of the simple ideals that define self-identity. I pray for you. I pray that you step outside your small, comfortable world.

[@ranaowens5537]

I have to admit, playing Tom Lea had to be the most difficult for any man who would have taken that role, especially if he's really not like that. It was like a man who i heard they kept picking to be the devil in a Christian show Nd it was difficult as he loves God so much.

[@jbob2331]

Never knew chicken George turned mixed race...lol

[@maiajones9765]

I still like the original roots but the remake was pretty good , now don't quote me on this but I read that the remake was more accurate but again don't quote me on that.

[@AdrienneAliciaGodsDaughter]

I haven't seen this one

[@maiajones9765]

Birth of a Nation was a real good movie Very brutal but very informative.

[@chidomoyo8800]

Go Zimbo go

[@nickmarks8304]

Im from Australia and this show is airing now,very powerful, it made me sick and angry to see what the african americans have been thru,It made me dispize the white americans,

[@michaelmashayahanya6281]

Well acted.

[@RDCFemmes]

i don't know if I can watch Kunta Kinte once again....

[@bertramdavis7120]

I'm not sure if I am ready for another series of roots, this made me angry as hell, I don't want to visit it again.

[@TheLuvlfe]

I"m glad somebody said it!!! I am 50 yrs old so you know I seen the first one..

[@katekouri254]

Regé-Jean Page 💙🧡💟💜❤💚

[@glamajs7]

4. John A. Hobson author, Imperialism, A Study (1902) the actual history of Western relations with lower races occupying lands on which we have settled throws, then, a curious light upon the theory of a “trust for civilization.” When the settlement approaches the condition of genuine colonization, it has commonly implied the extermination of the lower races, either by war or by private slaughter, as in the case of Australian Bushmen, African Bushmen and Hottentots, Red Indians, and Maoris, or by forcing upon them the habits of a civilization equally destructive to them. This is what is meant by saying that “lower races” in contact with “superior races” naturally tend to disappear. How much of “nature” or “necessity” belongs to the process is seen from the fact that only those “lower races” tend to disappear who are incapable of profitable exploitation by the superior white settlers, either because they are too “savage” for effective industrialism or because the demand for labor does not require their presence. Whenever superior races settle on lands where lower races can be profitably used for manual labor in agriculture, mining, and domestic work, the latter do not tend to die out, but to form a servile class. This is the case, not only in tropical countries where white men cannot form real colonies, working and rearing families with safety and efficiency, and where hard manual work, if done at all, must be done by “coloured men’’ but even in countries where white men can settle, as in parts of South Africa and of the southern portion of the United States. As we entered these countries for trade, so we stay there for industrial exploitation, directing to our own profitable purposes the compulsory labor of the lower races. This is the root fact of Imperialism so far as it relates to the control of inferior races; when the latter are not killed out they are subjected by force to the ends of their white superiors.

[@IcyBandicoot]

Anika looks just as crazy as Jukebox. “ Necessary to tell this story” my ass. The entire story of Roots is fantasy

[@morten1975dk]

The series was ok, but the original was still better. Tom Lee and George were very good in this one...

[@Sonia-uz7wn]

Not

[@SteelTreeGone]

The story ROOTS I haven’t seen, I heard about it , What the people went threw how they lived and what all the black and white people went threw in that time Very Sad

[@katekouri254]

Regé-Jean Page⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[@SteelTreeGone]

All those men and women who went throw hell being used and hurt becaus they were black, it makes me sad

[@ZzLiGHTNiNGzZ]

This can’t touch the original roots even 1%

[@Magic9053]

The original Roots cannot be touched, I was VERY disappointed with the remake, it was more focused on the violence and special effects, whereas the original focused more on the EMOTIONS and heart of the story, and as far as "the younger generation", that's BS, my 13yr old son and I watched the original Roots and he followed it just fine, the 1977 version was by far the BEST.

[@jalo7289]

Magic9053 they changed it up

[@paulette904]

Oh yasss! if Regé - Jean with his gorgeous sexy self is going to be in this series then I will most definitely be watching. I loved him in Bridgerton to the point that I binged watched it. However, I guess I will have to try and find the rerun. Hold up! Jonathan Rhys Meyers, was in there too and so there are too hot men.

[@marfialennox2642]

OMG, I got so angry at the interviewer's response to Rege-Jean's comment but relieved when Anika schooled him.

[@fleetwoodmacdreams1695]

Chicken George accent

[@ILLGOOD]

HEBREWS our names were changed and the world knows their deceit. Deuteronomy 28:68 And the LORD shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you. And....Psalm 83:4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. HEBREWS what else do you need to know?!

[@codyclaeys2008]

your part pissed me off lol

[@kevinwillz6457]

All Respect to those who's ancestors were taken from their lands in Africa but what about the indigenous people of America who were put into slavery and had our culture & identity taken away from acts of Congress how long do we have to be in Exile in our own Lands ?

[@jocelynburrell9174]

Bis MI Allah yes don't soften it up

[@ohioboy7574]

How is it healing must be from the checks he getting