Viola Davis and Thuso Mbedu Talk The Woman King, Filming Stunts, and Fighting to Make the Movie

With director Gina Prince-Bythewood’s (The Old Guard) The Woman King now playing in theaters, I recently got to speak with Viola Davis and Thuso Mbedu about making the movie inspired by true events. During the interview, Davis and Mbedu talked about how hard they worked to make sure the action looked great, doing their own stunts, what it’s really like behind-the-scenes when making a movie, and how much they gave of themselves to the project. The Woman King tells the story of the all-female unit of warriors who protected the African Kingdom of Dahomey which was one of the most powerful states in the continent of Africa during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The film follows Nanisca (Davis) as she trains the next generation of recruits and readies them for battle against an enemy determined to destroy their way of life. Also starring in the film are Lashana Lynch, John Boyega, Sheila Atim, Adrienne Warren, Jayme Lawson, and Hero Fiennes-Tiffin. The film was written by Dana Stevens and ba