Anna Paquin's next role is in the remake of Roots

Actress Anna Paquin. Photo / Getty Images

Anna Paquin has been added to the cast list for the remake of Roots, joining veteran actors Forest Whitaker and Laurence Fishburne in the four-part mini-series.

Roots is the story of Kunta Kinte, a Mandika warrior captured in Gambia and forced into slavery in colonial America.

Paquin, best known for her role as Sookie on the HBO drama True Blood, will play Nancy Holt, the wife of a Confederate officer who has her own agenda when it comes to dealing with slaves, reported Variety.

Scene from True Blood starring Stephen Moyer and Anna Paquin.

Roots is a cultural touchstone for many black Americans, first appearing on TV in 1977 with LeVar Burton as Kinte. Burton is on board as one of the remake's executive producers.

The remake will air in 2016 and will be simulcast on three networks: A&E, Lifetime and History.

Paquin and Whitaker were added to the cast along with Irish actor Jonathan Rhys Myers (Tudors) and Anika Noni Rose (The Good Wife).

Whitaker will play Fiddler, a slave who is close with Kinte and risks his own life to help free him.

Rhys Meyers plays a slave owner and Rose plays Kinte's warrior daughter, Kizzy.
They join Fishburne, Chad L Coleman, Rege-Jean Page, Erica Tazel and Derek Luke on the main cast list.

Paquin has well and truly broken into the US TV scene, thanks to her role in True Blood.

Here are her four biggest roles:

The Piano: Paquin won an Oscar for her role as the daughter of mute woman sent to New Zealand for an arranged marriage. Just 11 at the time, she became the youngest actress to ever win the award.

Actress Anna Paquin of New Zealand poses with the 1993 Oscar she received for best supporting actress during the 66th annual Academy Awards. Photo / Getty Images

Fly Away Home: This heartwarming family flick is one of Paquin's best-known roles. After a car crash kills her mother, a young girl goes to live with her father in Canada, where she adopts a gaggle of baby geese who have also become motherless.

Anna Paquin as Rogue in X Men.

X-Men: Paquin plays Rogue in the early 2000s version of the Marvel comic book franchise. The blockbuster trilogy gained her serious exposure as an actress overseas.

Rutina Wesley, Anna Paquin, Lucy Griffiths in a scene from True Blood.

True Blood: Perhaps the role she is now best-known for, Paquin plays Sookie Stackhouse in this long-running HBO vampire series. Sookie is a waitress in small-town southern America - she's also in love with a vampire and has magical powers of her own.

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