I’m very proud that the film focuses and is led by Black women. It’s not the first time for me, the same is true of “Waiting to Exhale” [1995], that was a first and led by four Black women. I suppose I’ve been in this position before. So I’m comfortable with it, I’m thrilled by it and I hope it will teach Black girls, we’re winning. We can win.
The film and its creative team lost Chadwick Boseman, Wakanda’s leader, to cancer in 2020. How did you handle his death and translate your grief onscreen? What would Chadwick think of the film?
I handled that with a great deal of pride and love and respect for who he was and who he is. This was not the moment to fall down, but this was to use all of that love, all those emotions that we felt for him, all those memories that we have of him, and to put it into the work and to make it, hopefully, as special as he is. That’s no less than what he would have done and what he would have wanted for us.
Your character drowns during an attack led by Namor. What was it like filming that scene?
That scene, well thankfully, the water was warm. The girls were there, Lupita [Nyong’o], Danai [Gurira]. I was prepared for that day, of course, you knew it was coming up. It wasn’t as sad as it was the day I reckoned it was going to occur. That’s for sure.
As we look at your lifelong acting career, how do you feel about this being your second nomination?
I am ecstatic over it, but there’s also part of me that maintains that I must keep my feet firmly planted on the ground, on terra firma, on Earth. It’s been a journey of hard work, wonderful opportunity. Saying yes to what excites you about the work and individuals, and it will always continue to be that way.
These awards are a fantastic gift from your peers in your community and this certainly is the apex of it.But I know I’m thankful that I still have to get up this morning, get in my car and drive myself to the set and put in the work with my colleagues today. So, I can’t sit around heaven all day.
