Lane Garrison previews ‘Roots’ his role as a Confederate racist, praises cast
The History Channel is bringing back the epic tale of Alex Haley’s Roots with a new, four-night miniseries. Actor Lane Garrison talked with Dispatch Radio about the show and his role as one of the Confederate racists.
Lane Garrison
“Well I’m a white guy in Roots,” Lane jokes as begins to detail his portrayal of Frederick Murray, a racist, pro-secession Confederate and slave owner.
“Yeah, I play a slave master, Confederate, Colonel, racist, bigot, bad guy,” he describes of Murray before praising the all-star cast: Laurence Fishburne, Forest Whitaker, Mekhi Phifer, Malachi Kirby as Kunta Kinte, who “absolutely kills it.”
The History Channel brings back Roots with four two-hour episodes, beginning tonight.
“Roots will allow new audiences to experience this epic family saga with a new vision that is both inspiring and tremendously entertaining,” said Paul Buccieri, President of A&E and HISTORY. “We are proud that HISTORY will be able to bring new life to this powerful story that remains as important today as it did when the original ‘Roots’ first premiered.”
“…it makes me think about our heritage, our past and where we all came from…,” Lane said, reflecting on seeing the original miniseries and the impact it had. “We’ve got generations of people that never saw the original…a whole generation of millennials who need to see this,” he concluded, discussing the motivation to rediscover Haley’s epic.
Check out the full interview below.
Get the full details of the new series at HISTORY
Visit the official Twitter page for Lane: @Lanegarrison2
Check out the official trailer for Roots at the bottom.
Lane Garrison in “Roots”
