Page 525 - Guildhall Coverage Book 2020-21

15 January 2021

Kingsley Ben-Adir had less than two weeks to prepare for the role of Malcolm X
in One Night In Miami before filming began in New Orleans.

He spent most of that time waking up before sunrise and drilling the script into his
memory, studying Malcolm’s dialect and consuming audiobooks and films on the

revolutionary leader. There was physical preparation as well: he cut his food intake
by three quarters to drop 20 pounds, achieving the most striking resemblance to

Malcolm since Denzel Washington’s portrayal in Spike Lee’s 1992 biopic, Malcolm X.

“I wanted to know that film like the palm of my hand,” Ben-Adir says, speaking via

Zoom from the living room of the central London apartment he’s lived in for the last