Cast and Creatives Behind Nat Geo's "Genius: MLK/X" On The Civil Rights Trail Blazers' Legacy (VIDEO)

In an interview with the cast and creative team executive producers Gina PriceBythewood and Reggie Rock Bythewood revealed that Nat Geo initially planned to center its fourth season solely on Reverend King but they felt there was more to the storyquotWe felt in this day and age you don39t get to have Martin without Malcolmquot Reggie shared quotThey embraced that notion and we presented this narrative where we do two sides of the coin and really look at the contrast and comparisons and alignment with Martin and MalcolmquotquotIn telling these dual narratives and really there39s four with Betty and Coretta that39s what would see this apart and allow us to tell a little different storyquot Gina added quotWe had great collaborators with our showrunners Damione Macedon and Raphael Jackson and two source materials that were influential The Sword and The Shield by Peniel E Joseph and The Meeting by Jeff Stetson which is a fictional telling of a meeting between Dr King and Malcolm XquotWe learned more through the research that we did about how many parallels there were not just in the iconic moments we know about but in their personal lives the way they were brought up their love stories their family lives their struggles with mental health The more we found out the more truth that was revealed made the narrative of putting these two together more and more excitingquotEqually as important in the series was the inclusion and amplification of Coretta Scott King and Betty Shabazz played by Weruche Opia and Jayme Lawson respectively who not only supported and fought alongside their husbands but whose own struggles and challenges were brought to light in MLKX Going into the series the actresses knew well the impact and legacy each of their characters carries and were honored to take on the challenge while honoring the strong women who raised themquotThe privilege of bringing Dr Betty Shabazz out of this one dimension and giving her this full complexity I naturally gravitated to itquot said Lawson quotI have a lot of strong women in my life who helped me to pull from that level of resilience and quiet powerquotquotTo show the multidimensional life of Black women I come from a line of very strong womenquot Opia added quotGetting the opportunity to portray one as strong as Coretta Scott King was an honor and a privilege Just to be involved in it kinda solidifies me as a strong soft woman I39m not trying to be strong all the time There39s a multidimensionalness to being strong and softquot she laughedTitular star Kelvin Harrison Jr shared that while honored to be given the opportunity to play Reverend King he nearly turned it down but changed his mind when the creative team said his hesitation was exactly why he was right for the role quotI39m so grateful for what Reverend King represents to this country he39s the reason why I39m here right now he39s the reason why any person of color is able to thrive in this countryMy initial reaction was because of that 39I do not want to participate39quot he laughed quotI thought there39d be someone more courageous or puttogether to play this man and I felt this sense of imposter syndrome and expressed that to the executive producers They said 39that39s exactly what we need That39s what Dr King was experiencing39 I had to do some selfwork and humble myself and say 39yes39quotThere is a long list of incredible actors who have portrayed Dr King over the years from Jeffrey Wright in Boycott and David Oyelowo in Selma to Anthony Mackie in All The Way and Samuel L Jackson in The Mountaintop on Broadway to name a fewWhen asked about pulling inspiration from these previous performances Harrison had this to say quotIn order to the tell the truth of a man or the understanding of what it means to be a man is unique it39s an individual exploration so I had to figure out what it means to be a young man I realized in all of these portrayals most of the actors were older than me and I always perceived Dr King to be older than me and that all of these things that happened to me were so beyond But a lot of them happened before he was 30 All of them happened before he was 39 I need to take the time to investigate myself and find our commonalities and throughline between our lives and share that oncameraquotGenius MLKX premieres its first two episodes tonight on National Geographic with two episodes airing every Thursday all month long Episodes will be available to stream on Hulu and DisneyClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillageorgMyersBizNet

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Cast and Creatives Behind Nat Geo's "Genius: MLK/X" On The Civil Rights Trail Blazers' Legacy (VIDEO)

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Juan Ayala

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Cast and Creatives Behind Nat Geo's "Genius: MLK/X" On The Civil Rights Trail Blazers' Legacy (VIDEO)

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