Cathedral City actress talks 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,' honoring Chadwick Boseman

Janeshia Adams-Ginyard has a fierce presence on-screen in Marvel movies, most recently in "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" out this Friday. As a member of the Dora Milaje, an elite group of female warriors, she fights to protect the fictional African country of Wakanda and King T'Challa.

That prowess can be felt in person as well. As the tall and athletic-built actress walked past the Mary Pickford Theater in Cathedral City on a recent Tuesday, each step exuded confidence and strength. Her multi-colored, matching two-piece pant set also showed off all the hours she has spent exercising and training for her career as a stunt actress.

But then a bee flies past her, and Adams-Ginyard's cool drops. She can charge into battles with a spear and take down enemies, but a small, winged insect is enough to make her squirm and even jump out of a moving golf cart, as she did once on set. But it also makes that superhero warrior feel very much like a regular person — although she can still kick anyone's butt any day.

The last few years have been a "dream come true" for the Southern California native. After making her Marvel debut in the Oscar-winning "Black Panther," her character appeared in "Avengers: Infinity War," "Avengers: Endgame" and the show "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier." She and her colleagues won two Screen Actors Guild Awards for their ensemble stunt work in "Black Panther" and "Avengers: Endgame," and she received an individual Emmy Award nomination for outstanding stunt performance for the show "Lovecraft Country."

"It's been one of those rides where I'm incredibly blessed and thankful for it all," Adams-Ginyard said.

She's back as Nomble in "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," recognizable by a tattoo on the right side of her face, and said it's a "bigger role" than her previous work. It was also a difficult shoot in more ways than one as the film comes following the 2020 death of actor Chadwick Boseman, who played the titular role of Black Panther.

Before the highly-anticipated release, Adams-Ginyard sat down with The Desert Sun to talk about her career, memories she made on set and what fans can expect to see from her in the future.

From sign language interpreter to stunt actress

Acting wasn't always on Adams-Ginyard's mind when she was thinking about her career path.

Raised in Cerritos, she went to the University of California, Berkeley, where she majored in linguistics and minored in African-American studies with an emphasis on Caribbean culture. Her goal at the time was to be a sign language interpreter for deaf athletes, and she also was a member of the school's track and field team.

Her time in the Bay Area led to a number of different pursuits. She was the host of the radio show "Lady J's Wild World of Sports," and she was even the brakeman for the 2006-2007 U.S. National Bobsled team. She later decided to put the sport aside because she couldn't "keep up" with it.

Adams-Ginyard moved back to Southern California around 2009 and began to pursue sports modeling and acting. She did a number of campaigns and commercials with Nike, but soon wanted more.

"I got tired of just standing there holding kettle bells. I need more physicality, and that's what made me pursue stunts," she said, which she started around 2011. "I was like, oh wow, I would love being blasted down hallways on a wire and all that."

She began training five days a week, at least three times with a trainer, and practicing tumbling, trampolining and wall flips, among other stunt-related skills. She also started kickboxing, wrestling and taekwondo.

She was able to make connections and get her name out there by meeting people on sets, at the gym and by word of mouth, but Adams-Ginyard said landing a stunt gig on the show "True Blood" in 2014 is what really got the ball rolling. After that, she did stunt work on the shows "Hawaii Five-0," "Shameless" and "The Mindy Project."

"I was so grateful for that because I had been putting in the work, I'd been training, doing all these things, coming into the gym before it opens," she said. "My mom always said, 'It's better to be ready and not needed than to be needed and not ready.'"

The work continued coming in, and then around September 2016 she received an audition notice for an "untitled Marvel project" that would change her life.

The search for Dora Milaje

Adams-Ginyard traveled to and from Atlanta for weeks for auditions, all while not knowing what the project was, she said.

As she started doing research and talking with other people, she began to realize she was likely auditioning for "Black Panther," starring Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, Letitia Wright, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke and Angela Bassett. The film centers on T'Challa (Boseman) as he rises to the throne and guides Wakanda into the future, but not without facing opposition.

In November 2016, she was asked to come in for another audition — even though she already received an email saying she would be part of the team. The audition was called "Finding Dora," which would refer to the all-female Dora Milaje warrior group in the film.

The audition ended up being "way more intense" than the previous ones because there were multiple stations set up that taught people how to roll, punch, do striking movements and more. The women who were invited to the audition were also asked to learn choreography and perform with a partner. To make matters even more intense, she would be showcasing her skills to director Ryan Coogler and producer Nate Moore.

"In my head, I already knew, 'You're going to do those same kicks and things you did in that first audition, you're just going to spice it up a little bit,'" Adams-Ginyard said.

After an exhausting and skillful routine, she ended her audition crouching on one knee with her arms spread out. She recalled Coogler saying, "Janeisha, you're one of them taekwondo girls, huh?" which made her feel proud.

"If there was ever a time where I felt like I gave it all, I gave it my all," she said. "There was no holding back. It felt like I was in the blocks of my hurdle race and the gun went off."

After a few more weeks passed by, she finally learned she was one of eight women selected to be part of the Dora Milaje. She was also going to be Gurira's body double.

Shooting began in January 2017 and wrapped in May. The days on set were intense with long hours and filming in cold Atlanta weather. Adams-Ginyard also struggled with the fact that she would have to shave her head for her role, and even contemplated if it was worth doing. She consulted family members and her pastor, who all encouraged her to keep pursuing her dream, and reminded her that her hair would grow back.

Despite it all, the set felt like a big, happy family all because of Boseman. She said he threw parties that everyone, not just the top cast and crew members, was invited to, and "he made you feel welcome." The actor was also known to bust out some of the dance moves he picked up from his role as James Brown in "Get On Up."

"He was such a team player. He was really all about family. He wanted to make sure everybody was having a great experience," Adams-Ginyard said.

"He knew what that movie was going to mean to so many people because of the representation that was being done: Black superhero, all-Black leading cast, Black women who are protecting the king, who are bald and all shapes and sizes," she added.

The 2018 film grossed over $1.3 billion worldwide and broke numerous box office records, becoming the highest-grossing film directed by a Black filmmaker, the second-highest-grossing film of the year and one of the highest-grossing films of all time. It also won Academy Awards for its costumes, score and production design.

Adams-Ginyard's work in the film also led to a number of other roles in movies and television shows and awards recognition. She even got her own Marvel Wikipedia page when her character received the name Nomble in "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier," which showed she would likely be sticking around the Marvel Cinematic Universe for some time.

"You never know what comes from a single job, especially with the MCU, how they tie in all the elaborate characters and the different stories," she said. "Your character might pop up over here and that happened with 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.'"

'I kept his spirit alive'

In "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," most of the original cast returns and there are a few new additions, but one notable presence was missed every day.

The news of Boseman's passing in 2020 was a "shocker" for Adams-Ginyard because she, like many others, did not know he had colon cancer.

"I literally screamed at the top of my lungs," she recalled when she learned of his death. "It broke my heart."

The sequel's development was announced around 2019, but many plans changed following Boseman's death. Marvel decided not to recast his role of T'Challa, and many wondered how the project would continue without its lead.

A void was easily felt on set, she said, but she and her castmates tried to honor Boseman and remember his contributions as much as they could.

"I definitely made sure I did my moments of silence before we shot every day doing 'Wakanda Forever.' I made sure that in my head he was getting honored, and I made sure I kept his spirit alive," Adams-Ginyard said. "If it wasn't for him killing that role and doing such an amazing job, there would be no sequel."

Adams-Ginyard also recently turned heads at the "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" purple carpet premiere. With a theme of celebration, she decided to "celebrate (Boseman) like the ancestors." She first arrived wearing a purple cloak, but then revealed she was covered in purple, red, green and yellow body paint and had a portrait of the late actor on her back. The actress said she was "so happy with how it turned out and how it was received" because of the "care, delicacy and love" that was put into it. Boseman's wife, Taylor Simone Ledward, also appreciated the gesture, she added, and it even got singer Rihanna's attention on the carpet.

Much of "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" tackles grief, as the people of Wakanda mourn the loss of King T'Challa and must protect their nation from invading forces. The first critics' reviews have been positive, calling the film "an ambitious and emotionally rewarding triumph for the MCU."

Adams-Ginyard didn't reveal many details, but she believes audiences "will be very happy with the finished product." Her role is a continuation of her character that was introduced in "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier."

"Look for me in the credits," she said with a laugh.

The local actress has plenty of other projects coming out in the next year, including her first leading role in the upcoming holiday movie "Letters at Christmas. Adams-Ginyard is also in a horror movie that will start shooting next summer, and is producing and starring in a short comedy film called "The Jamaican Queen and Her Jerk-King."

With all this to look forward to as she enters her 13th year in the industry, Adams-Ginyard credits her dedication to her faith for all the blessings in her life.

"Out of all of the things that are going on in the world, the naysayers and all the negative stuff, I've been in a position where I'm able to be a walking testimony of what it means to truly trust and depend on God because when you do that, good things happen," Adams-Ginyard said.

Local showtimes for "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" can be found at https://www.fandango.com/

Ema Sasic covers entertainment and health in the Coachella Valley. Reach her at ema.sasic@desertsun.com or on Twitter @ema_sasic.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Cathedral City actress talks 'Black Panther' sequel; honoring Chadwick Boseman