'Roots' remake, set to begin New Orleans filming in mid-August, issues casting call for extras

Last edited Thu Jul 23, 2015, 04:47 AM - Edit history (1)

New Orleans-area filming on a "Roots" remake, slated to air on three A&E networks in 2016, is expected to begin in mid-August. An open call for background actors was issued Tuesday (July 21) by Caballero Casting. The project, to be simulcast on History, A&E and Lifetime, was announced in April.

The four-night, eight-hour project will film here through December. Filming will also take place in Africa, an A&E spokesman said Wednesday.

Laurence Fishburne will portray Alex Haley in the "Roots" remake, based on Haley's novel "Roots: The Saga of an American Family" as well as new historical scholarship, according to A&E's initial announcement of the project.

The original 12-hour 1977 miniseries, starring LeVar Burton as the slave Kunta Kinte, was a cultural landmark and ratings powerhouse. Burton is a co-executive producer of the new project.

Read more: http://www.nola.com/tv/index.ssf/2015/07/roots_remake_new_orleans_filmi.html#incart_2box_nola_river_orleans_news

Cross-posted in the African American Group and Movies Group.