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" Schoolkids - black and white - would call me Kunta Kinte as a cuss. If ever my hair was particularly messy, if ever I looked scruffy at school, I would be called Kunta Kinte. My first impression was that it was bad to be African and bad to be associated with him. "

Malachi Kirby

Hair

Black And White

School

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" You're always going to have typecasting, especially with TV. "

" Playing Kunta Kinte is an emotional, physical, spiritual, and mental journey. "

" There are stories I wanted to tell, and they are not defined by what I look like. "

Malachi Kirby

Look

Tell

" When I heard that 'Roots' was being remade, my first response was, 'Seriously?' I was a bit skeptical. Then I had an audition in early 2015. I didn't know how to feel about it. I was a little scared of the responsibility of telling the story again with the weight of the first one behind me - I was scared of comparisons. "

Malachi Kirby

Story

Know

" I haven't experienced a lot of prejudice in my life, but I'm not naive to what goes on in the world. "

" At first, I had this huge desire to play a superhero, that little kid in me. Then I realized it wasn't actually a superhero I wanted to play: it was someone fighting for a cause that's bigger than themselves, which can go into all sorts of things. "

Malachi Kirby

Kid

Desire

" My knowledge of my ancestry, like a lot of black people not living in Africa today, is very vague. "

" I was 22 when my mother gave me the original box set of 'Roots' and she said, 'I want you to watch this.' I watched the whole thing back to back in the span of 24 hours. It had a profound effect on me. It felt like my story. "

Malachi Kirby

Story

You

" Kunta Kinte's strength derives from the knowledge of where he comes from, but it struck me that I don't know where I come from. I understand that my last name is Kirby, that I was born in London, third-generation Jamaican, and at some point along the line, that name was changed. I didn't know my history past my grandparents. "

" Kids under, I'd say, 14 are still maturing; they are still growing. They are still understanding themselves. To hit them with something like 'Roots,' to hit them with this particular period of time, it's important to discuss the matters beyond the program itself. "

" My dad passed when I was 6. I found out when I was about 21 that my dad always said acting would be the making of me. Where he got that from, I have no idea. "

" I found that there were things that God could reveal to me that I could never get myself physically. "

" 'Roots' focuses on a particular group of people who defy the odds and win, eventually, even if it isn't in their lifetimes. This is, for me, a very positive story and a very empowering one, if only we have that perspective on it. "

Malachi Kirby

Roots

People

" I was taught about slavery, but it was the ancient Egyptians. That's the closest I got to African history. "

" When I was in school, my first acknowledgement of 'Roots' was Kunta Kinte. "

" I think about Shakespeare. Because there have been hundreds of variations of Shakespeare's plays since they've been written, and I believe it's because they're important. They're still relevant today. 'Roots' is still relevant today. The idea that we shouldn't tell this story again is very strange to me. "

" I never got picked for the athletics team for about three years. I was in my third year, and I really wanted to join, and I kept basically knocking on the door of the PE coach. 'Can I join? Can I join?' He's like, 'No... No.' And then one day, he's like, 'Okay, you want to race? Cool. We have a free spot for you. You're gonna be doing the 400.' "

" I believe it's important to have equal opportunities as a black actor. My way of fighting for it is through my art, by not accepting that there are roles that aren't for me. "

" I was the shiest person you could think of. I didn't really speak. I was an only child, so most of my life I spent in my bedroom playing with toys by myself, speaking through them. "

" My roots go back to West Africa, but my last name is Kirby, which is not an African name. "

" One of the biggest things that I took from playing Kunta Kinte was where his strength came from in knowing where he was from. "

Malachi Kirby

Things

Strength

" If you're good enough to play a role with emotion and universal human elements, then you'll get others coming to you. "

" I was thinking, 'What is it about Kunta Kinte that allowed him to live such a long life?' For me, what came down to it was his spirit and his knowledge of self. "

" Kunta Kinte is the closest thing I've ever seen... to a superhero. He's amazing. He's inspirational. "