Lyriq Bent as Chekura and Aunjanae Ellis as Aminata Diallo in ‘The Book of Negroes’ (Entertainment One/BET)
Set against a backdrop of slavery and the American Revolution, “The Book of Negroes” is a moving mini-series kicking off on Monday night on BET.
Even before he was swept up in the love story of two children from West Africa, who kept up their connection despite being sold into slavery in the colonies, actor Lyriq Bent (“Rookie Blue”) knew he had to be a part of it.
“That title alone just really gripped me,” Lyriq told Access Hollywood of being immediately drawn to the project when it first surfaced. “And I thought, ‘I need to be involved.’ … And on reading the script, I knew it. I thought, ‘Wow, [I’m] so glad I followed my instincts, because it was such a well written script, and hats off to [author] Lawrence Hill and [director] Clement Virgo for adapting such a wonderful screenplay off of an incredible book. But that’s what it was. It really, really spoke to me and I can’t give you a very simple, detailed answer. It’s just something that you experience. You feel it — the vibe. It’s an instinct and that’s very much what it was.”
On Monday night, the first two hours of the mini-series air on BET, following the traumatic and heartbreaking journey of Aminata Diallo, a bright, young West African girl, who is sold into slavery in the mid-1700s. Her unbreakable spirit draws in Chekura, a boy who works for slave catchers, who also sell him into slavery. During a difficult journey to America, the two forge a lifelong bond that by the second hour blossoms into a great love story between the characters, played as adults by Aunjanue Ellis (Aminata) and Lyriq (Chekura).
While the couple’s encounters are often brief, with Chekura having to sneak out at night from the plantation he works on to see Aminata, they are filled with love, passion and a wonderful warmth.
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“This was the story that I personally wanted to make sure came out, because it could have been overshadowed by many things, because there’s so many great experiences and opportunities and adventures that Aminata goes through, and I just did not want the love story to just be a thing that happened and then was gone,” Lyriq said. “I felt that it was a very important thing because it’s not something we’ve seen in cinema ever – with slavery as a backdrop. So it was important that that image, that story was told, so that Americans — the world — would understand that even in that time, love overcame all. People loved each other. People embraced each other and wanted to have families and all these things, but really couldn’t because it was against the law for them to do these things.”
Reading Hill’s novel five times before filming began in South Africa and Canada, gave Lyriq real insight into Chekura’s heart.
“I read the book — it’s a good book — and then I read it again, just so that I could really understand the characters. And every time I read the book, I got something different,” he said. “It always took me on a journey. And then, I got the script… and I thought, ‘Wow.’ … And it’s so intense. I mean, it really holds true to the book… with some surprises as well — nice surprises… But, I read the book as many times as I possibly could so that I could really try and embody the character.”
Lyriq also had talks with his co-star about Aminata and Cheukra and “how incredibly strong they were as people and individuals and how difficult and how strong their love must have been.”
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As the mini-series unfolds across the hours, the couple marries, but they have to turn to a web of people and information passing, dubbed in the piece “the fishnet,” to find each other.
“This is something that I could, I guess relate to somewhat, knowing that I come from a place where — born in Jamaica as a kid, I didn’t have all the modern day things and I could relate to how news got around back then,” the actor said.
As Aminata’s great journey takes twists and turns, it ends up leading her to New York on the eve of the Revolutionary War, where the British offered slaves land and freedom if they fought for the English crown. That led to the actual Book of Negroes, a document that reflected that service, which is still in existence today.
“It is the first legal document that actually documented the names of Africans and African Americans in the late 1700s. That is a part of written history that we can trace back to, which we didn’t have before,” Lyriq said. “And interestingly enough, I read the other day that Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, traced his heritage back to that time where the Book of Negroes was [written]. … I think that’s incredible that we have something that we can use as a reference that leads back to that time, where before, we couldn’t.”
“The Book of Negroes” mini-series airs February 16-18 at 8/7c on BET.
— Jolie Lash
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