Photo: LOIC VENANCE/AFP via Getty Images
Black Panther: Wakanda Foreverwriter-directorRyan Cooglerlearned how to swim while making the new Marvel Cinematic Universe movie.
Coogler recently toldVarietythat as several members ofWakanda Forever’s cast had to learn to free dive and trained with free diving instructors and aquatic stunt teams for the movie, hedecided he needed to be on the same page.
“A lot of us were raised to have fear of water,” the director, 36, toldVariety. “I had to figure out how to swim so I could direct this movie.”
About half ofWakanda Forever’s scenes take place underwater with the addition of new antagonist Namor (Tenoch Huerta), who rules the secretive deep-sea land of Talokan, according toVariety.
Courtesy Marvel Studios
“It’s a lot of Black and Mesoamerican folks in water in this movie,” Coogler told the outlet, adding in particular that he is “excited for people to see what"Wakanda ForevercostarsAngela BassettandLetitia Wright"did in the water” for the new movie.
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Coogler toldVarietythat at the start of the shoot, his swimming skills were only enough to know how to “stay alive.” The director said it was a rewarding experience to learn how to free dive and swim more skillfully along with his cast.
“I remember it was a wild feeling, like I can’t believe I’mthisdeep in water,” he recalled. “Then I started to work on the breath hold and got comfortable.”
Poster forBlack Panther: Wakanda Forever(2022).Courtesy Marvel Studios
The director was not alone in tackling uneasy waters. Cast members Bassett, 64, andLupita Nyong’oboth expressed toVarietythat they were not particularly skilled swimmers before the shoot either.
“You know, Black girls have this history with water and their hair,” Bassett told the outlet. “Some of us can’t swim all that well, because it’s going to mess up that press and curl. It’s a whole thing.”
“Before we started this film, I knew how to swim, but I wasn’t a confident swimmer,” Nyong’o, 39, added. “I didn’t need to swim in public, that’s for sure. That’s a lifelong skill that I now have.”
Both actresses trained to the point where they could bothhold their breath underwaterfor about two minutes, according toVariety, which noted that cast member Mabel Cadena could hold her breath underwater for around six-and-a-half minutes.
Black Panther: Wakanda Foreveris in theaters Nov. 11.
source: people.com
