(4 of 5)
Once again Roots' producers recruited a largely black crew for the show, as well as some black directors (Actor Georg Stanford Brown, Yale Drama School's newly appointed dean, Lloyd Richards). A conscious and highly successful effort was made to upgrade the level of acting, black and white. "The first time we were going to give you every reason to watch he show by loading the cast with TV stars," says Stoddard. "This time we put a greater emphasis on performance." Once the actors arrived on the set, they worked hard and fast. Harewood, 28, an actor of enormous range who ages 50 years in the lengthy role of Alex's father, had to get by on three hours' sleep to keep up with memorizing his lines. Says he: "That constant struggle alone made me look 20 years older."
The sequel's producers had virtually no trouble recruiting the cast they wanted. Some prominent athletes—Decathlon Champion Rafer Johnson and former U.S.C. Running Back Anthony Davis —volunteered to play minor roles. Cafe Pianist-Singer Bobby Short flew to Los Angeles on a few days' notice to play himself in an early 1960s literary party scene. The biggest coups by far were the casting of James Earl Jones and Marlon Brando. Jones had originally been lined up to play Chicken George in Roots 1. Had he done so, he would not have been usable as Haley in Roots 11. But Jones pulled out of the first series because of a scheduling conflict and was available this time. That was lucky: with his natural air of authority, easy warmth and physical resemblance to Haley, this actor was the only obvious candidate for the show's crucial role.
Brando's entrance into Roots 11 began when he called the real-life Haley out of the blue. "I'd never met the man," says Haley. "He told me that I performed a great service for people with my book and that, in appreciation, he'd like to take a part in the film." But what part? Brando told Margulies, "I want to play a small but startling role. I want to be on long enough so that people will say, yes, that's really Marlon up there. But not too long, Because I don't want that much work." Yet once Brando agreed to play Rockwell, he wanted to add more dialogue to enhance the scene. At rehearsal he confronted Margulies. "I want to know right now," Brando demanded, "why we can't have two days, three days or whatever it takes." Rather nervously, the producer put his foot down, saying that he could only afford one day of Brando. The actor went into a sulk, took a long pause, and then announced: "In that case I'm going to ask a question I've never asked in my entire career. How early can I start?"
Brando started at 7:45 a.m. and finished eleven hours later, feeling exhilarated. "I don't believe it," he said. "I've never done eight pages [of script] in one day." Margulies was also exuberant. "Working with Brando," he says, "was as improbable as having spent some time with the tooth fairy."