Kingsley Ben-Adir “wanted to change everything” after first transforming into Bob Marley.
The 37-year-old actor stars as the legendary reggae artist in the biopic ‘Bob Marley: One Love’ and has revealed he “felt stressed” when he first stepped onto set in full costume complete with dreadlocks.
Speaking to Variety at the movie’s Los Angeles premiere on Tuesday (06.02.24), he said: “Do you want an honest answer? I felt stressed. I wanted to change everything… I was pulling it up and messing it up.
“You know, it was a process, so I took a while to ease in.”
Kingsley had to prepare for the biopic while on the set of ‘Barbie’ – in which he played the role of Basketball Ken – but didn’t find it challenging to differentiate between the two parts.
He said: “No, no, no. When there’s too much work, I like it. I sort of get into a frenzy.”
Bob’s eldest son Ziggy Marley is a producer on the film and recognised that Kingsley had the qualities needed to portray the ‘Three Little Birds’ hitmaker – who passed away from cancer at the age of 36 in 1981.
Ziggy said: “There’s a voice inside of you what tell you the truth. You have to listen to that, and that was Kingsley.”
The movie is directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green, who recently described the reggae icon as “the most recognisable face on the planet” after Jesus.
Speaking to Empire magazine, the filmmaker said: “After Jesus, he’s probably the most recognisable face on the planet!
“Bob is uniquely universal. But I still felt like I didn’t really know him, and that few people really do.”