Kingsley Ben-Adir on Capturing Bob Marley’s Spirit: ‘Not a Mimic’ (Exclusive)

Kingsley Ben-Adir spoke to “Extra’s” Terri Seymour at the L.A. premiere of “Bob Marley: One Love,” where he opened up about stepping into the shoes of the music icon and capturing his spirit with help from those who knew and loved the musician.

He said he received input from Bob’s son Ziggy Marley, as well from as the late artist and photographer Neville Garrick, and “a lot of Bob’s friends in Jamaica who knew him before he was famous.”

“It was a community effort,” he went on. “Everyone was educating me from the beginning all the way through to the end. It was a lot of listening, and talking to people who loved Bob and who knew him personally. Not the icon, not the legend, just the father, and the guy, and the boy. So, I had to listen a lot and learn everything that I know about Bob through now.”

He said the support of the family was “everything.”

Kingsley also made clear that he was not trying to mimic Bob, who he said was “too big” and “too special.”

He explained, “We are trying to make a movie about Bob’s spirit. It is me trying to interpret Bob and his heart and his vulnerability, not a mimic, not a copy — no one can do that. He was too big, he was too special.”

Plus, though the music performances are mostly Bob’s voice, Kingsley shared, “I sung everything, but I knew that Bob’s voice was going to be the main voice in the movie, I just wanted to sing to feel the emotion of the songs, to understand what Bob did every day.”

Unexpectedly, “They left my voice in a few scenes.”