How ‘The Woman King’ director Gina Prince-Bythewood’s drive to make an intimate epic resulted in an award-season darling

. Gina Prince-Bythewood. Lize Kitshoff/ Sony Pictures; Alyssa Powell/Insider “The Woman King” recounts the West African Agojie warriors of the 1800s.

Prince-Bythewood talked to Insider about bringing their story to the big screen. It included dancing in the pouring rain with the cast and crew one day to capture the movie’s intense spirit. Gina Prince-Bythewood can recall when she first realized she had to make “The Woman King.

“She was five pages into the script and was spellbound by a scene depicting a group of Black female warriors rising up from tall grass with moonlight shining down on them as they prepare to unleash hell on an unwitting campsite of male soldiers. “I have to shoot that,” was her immediate response, she recalled to Insider over a Zoom chat this past week. And good thing for all of us, she did just that.

“The Woman King” is the rare action movie that doubles as award-season bait. Like best-picture winners “Braveheart” and “Gladiator,” Prince-Bythewood’s movie, which opens in theaters on Friday, is unapologetically violent and pulls at the heartstrings. Viola Davis stars as the leader of the Agojie, an all-female army for the West African kingdom of Dahomey in the 1800s.

Lashana Lynch and Sheila Atim fight alongside Davis as loyal Agojie soldiers, John Boyega appears as the king of Dahomey, and sensational newcomer Thuso Mbedu plays an orphan who wants to become a part of the Agojie. Each star delivers a passionate performance that will surely earn them award-season consideration. But the movie wouldn’t be what it is without Prince-Bythewood’s drive and commitment to telling a powerful story about a real-life all-female group of soldiers in a big cinematic way.

“Really, the first thing that came to mind was ‘intimately epic,'” she said. “That’s what this felt like. “Viola Davis in “The Woman King.

“Ilze Kitchoff/SonyPrince-Bythewood had to find a vision to showcase how women warriors ‘legit beat men’This may be the first time the Agojie are depicted on the big screen, but their legend has touched pop culture in the past. The all-female Dora Milaje soldiers in Ryan Coogler’s “Black Panther” were inspired by the Agojie. This led to concern from “The Woman King” producers Maria Bello and Cathy Schulman who were trying to get their movie off the ground at the same time the Marvel blockbuster was becoming a sensation.

Was “Panther” going to take its thunder? No. In fact, it only built up “The Woman King” project more around Hollywood. With Davis attached and Prince-Bythewood (who had just showcased her action chops with the hit Netflix movie “The Old Guard”) at the helm, the project was off and running.

But the female warriors would be where the similarities between “The Woman King” and “Black Panther” end. From the beginning, Prince-Bythewood wanted to surprise audiences by being authentic and raw. The Dora Milaje soldiers in “Black Panther” were inspired by the Agojie.

Marvel”I wanted to really showcase the skill of these women,” Prince-Bythewood said of the Agojie. “They legit beat men. How do we make sure that’s believable?”Prince-Bythewood was able to achieve this feat by building off the grounded action and Charlize Theron’s on-screen fighting in “The Old Guard.

” She knew she needed that same feel, but on a much larger scale; instead of intense one-on-ones, she sought massive battles featuring hundreds of extras, explosions, and lots and lots of blood. “I’m going to do long takes that really show off the skill, show off that it’s really the actors doing it,” Prince-Bythewood said of her vision. “I want the audience to feel as if they are part of it and are in it.

I want the camera to move but not whip around where you’re trying to hide things, but actually move around in a way that captures the emotion and the performance. Because great action is story-driven and character-driven. “Laying the foundation for authenticity invited honesty from her actors — something Prince-Bythewood drew from even when cameras weren’t rolling.

“The Woman King. “Ilze Kitchoff/SonyThanks to dancing with the cast and crew during a downpour on set, Prince-Bythewood found the movie’s intensityMost of the filming took place in South Africa, where production built the massive palace that houses the Agojie in the movie. During production, with the stress of filming building, Prince-Bythewood lost a shoot day because of a sudden downpour.

She admits it was a moment when she wasn’t feeling the most positive. “I was just sitting with my head down,” she recalled. But in the distance, she heard singing and chanting.

It turned out the approximately 300 extras on set that day didn’t find shelter or pack up and go home — instead, they were in the middle of the palace square singing and chanting in the pouring rain. “It was an incredible moment and at that moment I just said, ‘Forget the day,'” said Prince-Bythewood who went and joined the cast and crew in the impromptu celebration in the rain. “Then I thought to myself, this is the energy I want in the movie,” she said, thinking particularly of the spear scene.

Lashana Lynch in “The Woman King. “SonyYou may have caught it in the trailer: Lashana Lynch’s character Izogie goes up against a male soldier by seeing who can have a spear stuck in their shoulder the longest. She wins, then takes the spear out of her shoulder and begins shouting as her fellow Agojie soldiers chant around her.

Prince-Bythewood said she took the energy from the dance in the rain and used it for the intensity in that scene. “I had our background actors come up with a chant,” she said. “The guys came up with one and the women came up with one, to make it feel competitive.

“And then Lynch put an exclamation point on it. “Lashana Lynch, as she pulls out the spear, and screaming to her fellow warriors, this wasn’t scripted. She turned to the guys and got in their faces and all the women followed and that elevated the scene,” Prince-Bythewood said.

It’s a highlight of the movie, and Prince-Bythewood said that if it wasn’t for the experience in the rain, it wouldn’t have been as powerful. (L-R) Gina Prince-Bythewood and Viola Davis at the world premiere of “The Woman King” at the Toronto International Film Festival. Emma McIntyre/Getty”That kind of thing as a director you have to stay open to, be able to put those pieces together,” she said.

With a current 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes following the movie’s world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, the awards push for “The Woman King” has begun. Prince-Bythewood is humbled and relieved, but she’s also thinking of the story she wants to tell next. “This one is going to be hard to top because I’ve been waiting for this one my whole career,” she said.

“But it’s interesting, after ‘The Old Guard’ and ‘The Woman King,’ I do crave just writing something personal. Going back to that for a moment and then going big again. ”  Read the original article on Insider.