Viola Davis says her character would be 'dead in the first 5 minutes' if The Woman King had a sequel
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The physical preparation it took to become Nanisca, the leader of the all-female Agojie army at the heart of The Woman King was tough, draining — and quite enough for star Viola Davis, thank you very much.
"I was like 'Oh my god, what am I doing?' At fiftysomething you need to sit your a– down!" says Davis, 57, who completed five-hour daily workouts (a combination of weight training and martial arts training), in addition to doing all her own stunts during filming. "If Woman King 2 comes out, Nanisca gonna be dead in the first five minutes," she jokes during our interview with the cast at the Toronto International Film Festival and featured on the latest episode of EW's The Awardist podcast. "You gonna see her body floating on a banana leaf in the ocean. That's how it feels."
Ilze Kitshoff/TriStar Pictures Lashana Lynch, Viola Davis, Shelia Atim in 'The Woman King'
Despite the pain, Davis and the cast — which includes Lashana Lynch, Thuso Mbedu, Sheila Atim, and John Boyega — agree that the hard-core training was necessary in order to fully inhabit their characters. Says Lynch, who plays warrior Izogie: "There's nothing that prepares you for this level of training. It was incredible to be able to just dive into the character physically before I've even learned who she is. And that informed who she was from the beginning for me."
For director Gina Prince-Bythewood, the physical preparation she required of her cast wasn't just for aesthetics or to propel the movie's plot — she had a more big-picture intention. "For me and the body of work, it's ultimately about reframing what it means to be female, what it means to be feminine," she says. "I hate the narrative that women aren't strong, that there's something wrong if you have muscles or are athletic. And on this [movie] I just wanted to celebrate that athleticism, the skill, the strength, the swagger. I really put that up on screen for people to be inspired by."
You can listen to more of our interview with The Woman King cast in the video above or the podcast episode below. Plus, check out the full episode to hear Team Awardist's thoughts on The Woman King's Oscars chances, the lowdown on the newly named Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel, and more.
Reporting by Lester Fabian Brathwaite and Andrea Mandell.
Check EW's The Awardist, featuring exclusive interviews, analysis, and our podcast diving into all the highlights from the year's best in movies.
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