Lupita Nyong’o explained why she turned down a role in The Woman King. The Hollywood Reporter talked to the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever star about why she opted not to pursue the Viola Davis project. It’s been a critical success and might garner some awards buzz with that all-star cast. But, Nyong’o just thinks that it wasn’t the right film for her. She said, “It was very amicable, the departure from it, but I felt it wasn’t the role for me to play.” Gina Prince-Bythewood’s movie wasn’t hurting for action. A large number of audiences were introduced to the Agojie warriors by The Woman King. It’s not like the actress was unfamiliar with the story herself. She starred in a short documentary called Warrior Women with Lupita Nyong’o. Still, fans will be wondering what could have been when it comes to her as another deadly warrior on-screen.
What’s the Difference Between The Agojie and The Dora Milaje
“With the Dora, we were trained to be in sync with each other, like a military unit. I guess the only correlation there was the Agojie were military as well, but they didn’t have the same system, if you will, and each one had their own different weapon,” star Jénel Stevens told ComicBook.com’s Liam Crowley. “And as you knew in the movie, they come from different backgrounds, so training them to make sure that the weapons were the extension of their hand was different than the Dora because the Dora, we all did spear.”
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The Black Panther warriors put everything into their fights, but there is a choreographer nature to the movement. In The Woman King, there needed to be a bit more utility to their fighting style.
“And in [Black Panther] it was more twirly and flowery and visually appealing. In the Woman King, it was supposed to be more functional, more straight to the point, killing somebody else. So there was no real fantasy to it. And we used the basic striking patterns that, for me personally, I come from a Koli background, so that was a part of the system that we used to teach them these weapons for the Agojie. It was definitely different because now it was more to the point with the weapons, ‘I’m going to kill you. I don’t want it to look pretty,’” Stevens added. “This was a totally different approach and it meant something deeper for me to be a part of it. It was rooted in history, like I said, 1800s these women actually existed, and to embody that was unprecedented for me.”
Would you have liked to see her in the movie? Let us know down in the comments!
