MOVIE NEWS – When an actor hits the big time, he or she is asked to play a series of better and better roles, often overlapping: while the star is shooting one film, he or she is already busy preparing for the next.

This was the case for Kingsley Ben-Adir (One Night in Miami…, Birmingham Gang), who played one of the Kents in Barbie, but was already busy preparing for the title role in Bob Marley: One Love. “I set up the Bob station in the middle of Barbie Land,” Ben-Adir told Entertainment Weekly in an interview, “so I was already Bob Marley in my trailer, preparing for the new role, while I was playing Kent in front of the cameras. Once I was done with the current take, I’d rush back. It was an interesting overlap, one minute I was Ken and the next I was a Jamaican musician. We discussed this with Greta (Greta Gerwig, director of Barbie – ed.), who had no objections.”

Ben-Adir has also studied recent biopics, particularly Elvis, in which Austin Butler used method acting to bring the rock legend to life. Based on Stanislavski’s theory, method acting, developed by the actors of the famous Actors Studio, is a total transfiguration, i.e. the actor takes on the character, adopts his habits and mannerisms and lives by them for months, which can result in a highly authentic performance. But Ben-Adir did not follow this tradition. “I don’t really understand this method, I approach the task differently. It’s about what you want to achieve and focusing on that. So I don’t flounce up and down in character all the time, I’m only in character when I’m in front of the camera, but then I’m very much in character. For a few minutes I’m doing exactly what I need to do, but it’s just between “there” and “that’s it”. Otherwise, I completely separate myself from the role so that I can calmly talk about what needs to change between scenes.”

Bob Marley: One Love tells the story of the life of reggae’s most influential figure from his rise to his untimely death, showing the impact his work had on music and the evolution of Jamaican politics.

(Bob Marley One Love – domestic release: 22 February 2024)