Danai Gurira, Lupita Nyong'o, Letitia Wright on Bringing the Women of Wakanda to the Forefront in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Shanelle Genai
·2 min read
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Danai Gurira, left; Lupita Nyong’o, and Letitia Wright.
Danai Gurira, left; Lupita Nyong’o, and Letitia Wright.
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Black Panther: Wakanda Forever stars Danai Gurira, Lupita Nyong’o, and Letitia Wright stun as cover stars in the upcoming November 2022 issue of Elle Magazine UK.

In the issue, the trio discusses the complicated task of bringing the long-awaited sequel to life in light of the tragic loss of Chadwick Boseman, who so perfectly portrayed T’Challa in the first film. They also divulged how the forthcoming feature does a good job of centering the women of Wakanda, which brought a certain amount of solace and peace during filming. If you needed a reminder, Nyong’o portrays Wakandan spy Nakia; Gurira plays Dora Milaje general Okoye and Wright plays T’Challa’s younger (and smarter) sister Shuri.

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“We get to see them be fully human. That’s something that, as Black women, we are often not afforded on-screen. And there are so many female characters. All too often in these movies, there’s a token one or two. Here, you’re seeing a community,” Nyong’o said to the magazine.

Added Wright:

“A beautiful moment was the three of us being able to do a scene together. I think that’s the first time that’s happened in the course of the franchise. It was a delicate scene, but there was so much beauty in it and so much laughter. We held each other up in ways that we didn’t get to do before. And to go through and just see Danai and Lupita in front of me, just working through their craft. Like, damn, I’m in a scene with Danai and Lupita. That’s sick. That’s really dope.”

Gurira also reflected on the moments they all clung to each other when the weight of Boseman’s loss and grief became too heavy.

“Different seasons require different types of friends, and this season we didn’t need colleagues: we needed friends. We needed comfort and a great support system,’ she said.

Yet and still, despite the sad feelings that still arise, Wright is confident that the moments of joy present in the film and throughout the process of bringing it to life will be enough to honor and please both Boseman and the audience.

“In the moments that we have joy, I just sense him kicking back, laughing with God, like, ‘Wow, look at my sisters,’” Wright explained. “We took all the love that we had for him and we put it into the film.”

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is set to hit theaters Friday, Nov. 11.