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EXCLUSIVE: Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong’o & Danai Gurira Reveal The Journey To Film ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Was A Emotional

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One can only imagine the bevy of emotions each actor/actress and crew member involved in the filming of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever went through from the first time Ryan Coogler said action and when filming wrapped.

A lot is riding on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, mainly because it’s the follow-up film to 2018’s highly-successful Black Panther film and will be the first project in the franchise without Chadwick Boseman.

Emotions will be high, with fans hoping Ryan Coogler and Marvel Studios deliver a story that will both honor Boseman and give fans the comfort they want in knowing the mantle of the Black Panther will continue in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Source: Marvel Studios / Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

No one knows better about the emotions revolving around this film than its cast, who lost a cast member and a brother in Chadwick Boseman.

Speaking exclusively with Wakanda Forever stars Lupita Nyong’o, Letitia Wright, and Danai Gurira, we asked them to briefly describe what feelings they went through while making the highly-anticipated sequel.

Letitia Wright Is Thankful For The Support She Had While Filming Wakanda Forever

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever assets

Source: Marvel/Disney / Marvel/Disney

“>”If you take all the emotions that you could feel and put it in a box or a little jar and shake it up and then open it up and say, “Action,” that’s how I felt,” Wright begins.

“>Just supporting us as the Black Panther family, those emotions were able to be handled in a peaceful and healing way…

“So many emotions. But being able to navigate that with support, with the support of Ryan, the support of my cast members, the support of my family, the support of my faith, praying, and those positive people out there that’s been championing the film and championing Shuri and all the beautiful additional characters… Just supporting us as the Black Panther family, those emotions were able to be handled in a peaceful and healing way,” she continued.

Lupita Nyong’o Admits Filming Was Challenging

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Source: Marvel Studios / Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

“I mean, Jesus, that’s emotions for ten months. It’s going to be very hard to take you through that in a four-minute interview. But I would say that it started off on unsure ground for me,” Nyong’o said to Cassius Life.

“I was concerned. I was wondering how it would feel. My intention was to go through this film as open-heartedly as possible in the spirit of Chadwick, who showed up with his full self to everything he did, and who really withstood a lot of discomfort to do the thing he loved the most.”

“And so for me, I wanted to come into this with that spirit of, yes, I can do this. Yes and, yes and. It was challenging. This film took a long time to complete. And we had all sorts of obstacles that we had to overcome, but we did. It took forever to make Wakanda Forever, but we got through it.”

“And by the end, I felt emotional. I couldn’t believe it, because at a certain point, I thought this film would never end. I mean, the making of it just, it seemed like there was no end in sight. And then one day it was over, and I was like, oh my goodness, we did it,” she concluded.

“My intention was to go through this film as open-heartedly as possible in the spirit of Chadwick…

Danai Gurira Says The Cast Processed Through Grief

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Source: Marvel Studios / Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

“Oh, it was every emotion. We leaned on each other a lot. We processed through a lot of grief,” Gurira begins.

“We had to really drill down on a lot of things, work our tails off to accomplish a lot of things that we were… We had to rehearse and rehearse and rehearse, had to workshop things, had to find new things. Had to keep tremendously fit and consistently train and learn and adjust to change. And at the core of it all, keep it centered on Chadwick.”

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever arrives in theaters on November 11.

Photo: Marvel Studios