Training For The Woman King Was A Massive Undertaking For Viola Davis And The Cast

At the beginning of the interview, Evans asks Davis about her feelings on shooting the big action sequences for the film. “It’s fear,” she says while eating her first wing. She continues:

“Because you have to toss 200 and something pounds of them over your shoulder. You’re with swords. You’re trying not to get hurt. We trained five hours a day, and we did all the stunts ourselves. No CGI. It was all us. And sprinting at 9:410, on a treadmill, by the way, and did I tell you I’m over 50? You know, once you get up there in the heart rate, you lose oxygen. And the fact that I’m sitting here right now eating hot wings and I’m still alive is a testament to the training for this movie!”

Davis also recently appeared on “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon,” saying of her training, “I was 56 when I trained to be this warrior: five hours a day, hour and a half of weight training, three and a half hours of martial arts (punching), 10.0 on the treadmill. And as I was running on that treadmill, I said ‘I’m gonna have a damn heart attack.'” 

But she did not. She is a goddess. Davis also has some fascinating things to say during the “Hot Ones” interview about her approach to acting even in small roles, creating them as fully-realized human beings. If you want to see that in action, rewatch her short scene in “Doubt,” which nabbed her an Oscar nomination.

“The Woman King” also stars Thuso Mbedu (“The Underground Railroad”), Lashana Lynch (“Captain Marvel”), and John Boyega (“Small Axe”). It is directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood (“Love & Basketball”), and is currently showing in theaters.