‘Enslaved’ Trailer: Samuel L. Jackson Offers Rare Look at Transatlantic Slave Trade (Video)

Enslaved (Credit: Epix)

Samuel L. Jackson is taking on a different role this year. The legendary actor will be hosting a new six-part docuseries on Epix titled Enslaved.

The series will explore 400 years of human trafficking between Africa and the New World, and promises to delve deeper into the circumstances and history surrounding the transatlantic slave trade.

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The project may be the Marvel actor’s most personal yet. In the trailer, we see Jackson travel to Gabon, where a DNA test has traced his lineage back to the Benga tribe. From there, he learns about the traditions and customs of his heritage.

“More than 12 million Africans were enslaved and trafficked. More than two million of our ancestors died at sea,” he says. “The ocean holds stories that haven’t been told.”

The series will also follow the organization Diving With a Purpose as it attempts to uncover sunken slave ships along the transatlantic slave trade route. “For me,  Enslaved is an attempt to give a voice to the millions whose voices were silenced,” the actor shared previously in a statement.

According to a description from Epix, the series includes “the most dives ever made on sunken slave ships, Enslaved also chronicles the first positive identification of a ‘Freedom Ship,’ an American schooner that ferried African American runaways to Canada.”

Enslaved is executive produced by Jackson, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Eli Selden, Rob Lee, Simcha Jacobovici, Ric Esther Bienstock, Sarah Sapper and Yaron Niski, and produced by Ric Esther Bienstock, Sarah Sapper and Felix Golubev. It is produced in association with Anonymous Content, along with UppiTV, Samuel and LaTanya Jackson’s television production company.

Enslaved premieres Monday, Sept. 14 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Epix. Watch the trailer below: