Kids under, I'd say, 14 are still maturing; they are still growing. They are still understanding themselves. To hit them with something like 'Roots,' to hit them with this particular period of time, it's important to discuss the matters beyond the program itself.

One of the biggest things that I took from playing Kunta Kinte was where his strength came from in knowing where he was from.

My roots go back to West Africa, but my last name is Kirby, which is not an African name.

At first, I had this huge desire to play a superhero, that little kid in me. Then I realized it wasn't actually a superhero I wanted to play: it was someone fighting for a cause that's bigger than themselves, which can go into all sorts of things.