Lupita Nyong'o Talks the Physicality of 'Black Panther'

No one ever said superhero movies were easy!

Black Panther, the next blockbuster from Marvel Studios, has been described by its director as the James Bond of Marvel films. As you can imagine, that kind of comparison would allude to the fact that this movie took a physical toll on the actors and stunt performers that took part.

While visiting the set of Black Panther, Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong'o, who portrays Nakia in the film, revealed that shooting the movie took more out of her than she initially thought it would. Every day on set was difficult.

"Wow. It is intense," Nyong'o said of her time filming Black Panther. "I mean I had dreams of being in an action film and stuff. I didn't realize that it was going to change my diet? And require me to wake up at insane hours. This week alone. I woke up to workout at 3 in the morning, Which is ridiculous. So it does take a lot of physical endurance and a commitment to your body. Like nothing else."

"But it's been so much fun to challenge my body in this new way," she added. "Nakia's fighting style is being informed by judo and ju-jitsu and silat, and stuff like that. So I'm learning all these cool skills and I get to jump higher than I thought I could jump. I get to roll backwards which I thought I would never do after the age of 8? So it's been fun. "

As shown in the first clip from Black Panther, there is certainly a ton of hard action taking place. T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman) was seen jumping from the roof of one car to another, trying his best to hold on as they sped down the road.

There's no doubt that Black Panther was difficult to film, but it looks as though the challenge paid off for all involved, as well as the fans anxiously awaiting the movie's premiere on February 16th.