The talented actress spoke with ESSENCE about her preparation for the film, meeting Rita Marley, and the legacy of the iconic reggae artist.
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00:00 Like an artist of that level, he needed, it took a lot of rest, a lot of careful planning,
00:07 a lot of intricate thoughts, a lot of people having to understand him and having to really
00:11 galvanise to protect him. He needed a lot and I think that's why you see Mrs Marley having taken
00:20 so much, having to withstand so much, because he was spiritually demanding. He knew exactly
00:26 what he needed and he called for it every single time and I think that's important to note within
00:31 the movie because you see him go from one part of himself to the other and then you see her go
00:36 just come back to self.
00:38 Where do you want to start?
00:45 From the beginning.
00:49 Reggae is a peep of music.
00:56 People coming together.
00:57 You know you're a superstar.
01:05 I'm a superstar.
01:08 I wanted to say you had an amazing performance in this film and I just want to know what was
01:16 your preparation process like for this role? It started with the usual thing, reading up,
01:21 scouring the internet, watching as many YouTube videos as possible, reading her book. But once I
01:28 realised that it just felt like spiritually there was something else I needed and then obviously
01:34 it dawned on me this woman is on the earth powerfully. I need to meet her. I need to sit
01:39 with her. I need to feel her energy. If hers is anything like my mum's who's a Jamaican woman or
01:47 my aunt's or my grandmother's, I know that it's going to be powerful and in order to harness that
01:52 and not just replicating women in my family playing this other Jamaican woman, I needed to sit with
01:58 who she was and who she is and I got to do that twice and it was wonderful. You see how you just
02:06 said wow? I literally sat on the floor cross-legged and was like, so tell me other things. What was
02:11 love like as a child? It just felt like a meeting of two spirits actually and I don't say that
02:20 lightly. She saw my spirit when I walked in and I definitely felt hers throughout and it was
02:25 big on her. Bob and Rita, they had a complex dynamic. How would you describe their relationship?
02:32 Gosh, even by learning it in the increments that I did, I still don't know if I can describe it
02:39 well. They have a very vibrational connection that I've seen with them together on screen but
02:51 I've also felt with just speaking to Mrs Marley. Respect, I think is the main thing that comes.
03:00 When there were moments of disrespect, it was straight into I respect you as a human being.
03:05 When there were moments of questioning or any kind of gossip, they came back to self and I think
03:11 that's the main thing that I'm really landing with now just talking about her is they both had a love
03:17 for themselves and we all know that if you have love for yourself, then you can easily have love
03:23 for others. So them sitting in who they were energetically enabled them to always come back to
03:30 each other in whatever iteration of their relationship they were in.
03:33 Being so immersed in his life and career, what was the biggest thing you learned about
03:38 Bob Marley during this filming process?
03:39 That he, I don't know how this is going to be taken but he needed a lot and it was really,
03:48 really important for me representing both of them for my culture to see that this artist who
03:56 everyone knows is this legendary person, he's so wise and his music's incredible, that he,
04:03 it took a lot. It was taxing, really taxing and I know you can say that of any musician
04:08 but he had a special one because his journey was spiritual and outside of himself. So together
04:14 they were a strong bond and I'm just, yeah, I'm just glad we get to tell it.