Bob Marley: One Love, the Paramount Pictures movie based on a chunk of the life of reggae legend Bob Marley, has been nominated for Best Movie at the 2024 BET Awards which will air live from Los Angeles on BET on June 30.

The other nominees in the Best Movie category are American Fiction, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, The Book of Clarence, The Color Purple, The Equalizer 3, and The Little Mermaid.

The film, which stars British actor Kingsley Ben-Adir as Marley and British actress Lashana Lynch as his wife Rita Marley, was directed by American Reinaldo Marcus Green.

Released globally on February 14, it topped the North American box office in its opening week and has grossed more than US$177 million worldwide. It is ranked as the ninth-highest grossing film of 2024 in the United States.

It continues its local run in Palace Amusement cinemas.

New York-born actress Sundra Oakley, whose parents are from St Elizabeth, played Marley’s lawyer and confidante Diane Jobson in the biopic. She is excited about the nomination.

“I was pleasantly surprised and just so excited for the movie and everyone involved in it and, of course, for the [Marley] family. This project was definitely a labour of love, you could see it and you could feel it. It’s been no secret that a Marley biopic has been at least a thought for many years. So, for it to have materialised at this point in time was just magnificent. And you could definitely feel the heart and the concern that went into every single detail, not to mention that Ziggy was on set every day, so you know, nothing was going to pass him,” Oakley shared in an interview with the Jamaica Observer recently.

She spoke about preparation for the role.

“Of course, what I did was to watch the two documentaries of Bob that are out there now, and that was really all that I could find about her [Jobson]. However, prior to filming, I got in contact with her and arranged to meet her before I was set to shoot, and I’m so glad that I did. Because that meeting alone changed me forever,” said Oakley.

While it has done well in major markets, Bob Marley: One Love has received mixed reviews. Some of the critics have been tough.

The reception has not surprised Oakley.

“You know Bob is so loved worldwide that you know people are going to gravitate to a story of his life, especially one that is being done for the first time ever since his passing. But you never really know what’s going to happen, especially with something as tempestuous as box office; but I don’t think we were surprised,” she said.

“From what I can tell you, we put so much heart into our performances as actors, and you could feel the love and the care from every single aspect of that movie that was put into telling the story, that at the end of the day, you’re not surprised.”

Oakley, who was a runner-up in the 1995 Miss Jamaica Universe and 1998 Miss Jamaica World pageants, has appeared in CSI, Sex And The City, Being Mary Jane, All American, and Code Black. Still, she said the Bob Marley movie has opened doors for her.

“One of my co-stars said it perfectly. This movie has given us a chance to be put in spaces to make and effect positive change. This movie feels like a continuous gift, not just because we were able to be in it, but to be Jamaicans in it, that’s another gift. But what it has done since then has been amazing, to get messages from people who were moved by your performance. I never take things like that for granted,” she stated.

Her next major project is a drama called Washington Black which premières late this year on streaming services Hulu and Disney+.