Ziggy Marley thinks his dad, the famous reggae singer Bob Marley, would have liked the new movie about his life called “Bob Marley: One Love.”
“He would laugh, but a proud laugh,” Ziggy says. “He always wanted to make a movie. He was creative. He even wanted to make a Western. There’s a lot about him that people don’t know. This movie will show those sides, and people will connect with them.”
Ziggy, who was 12 when Bob died in 1981, is happy to share his dad’s story in the movie, out on Feb. 14. He’s working on it with actor Kingsley Ben-Adir, who plays Bob, and Lashana Lynch, who plays his mom, Rita.
Ziggy, Rita, and his sister Cedella are helping produce the film, directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green, and his wife Orly is an executive producer.
Ziggy thinks Kingsley’s performance shows a side of Bob that people don’t usually see, an emotional side. He believes that emotional connection is what makes the movie important.
“Kingsley did really good,” says Ziggy. “There are moments where we’re like, ‘Yeah, that’s just like Daddy.’ I want people to feel emotions, and the big idea is for people to come together in peace and love. The movie is about unity.”
Ziggy and his family, including his mom Rita and siblings, were the ones who wanted to make the movie. They were very involved in creating it.
“It’s coming from us. For it to be real and authentic, we have to be a part of it,” he says. “The movie’s message is powerful, especially now. It’s the right time.”
Now a father of seven, Ziggy says his family’s spiritual foundation keeps them close to Bob.
“Everything we do is a part of the whole. It’s like we’re a part of him, and he’s a part of us. It’s one,” he says. “We speak with our love, not words. We don’t have to talk much — we can just feel. My smile is honoring him. I laugh, and it looks like his laugh. Pieces of him are a part of me.”
