Viola Davis is tired. I know because she has told me – “Let me just be honest, I’m tired,” she says at one point, with all the heartfelt emphasis of those Academy Award-winning eyes – but I also know because I’ve seen her latest film, and anyone would be tired after pulling that off. The Woman King is an 1820s-set, action-packed historical epic about the Agojie, the all-female warrior unit of the Kingdom of Dahomy, which once existed in what is now Benin. Davis gives a performance of phenomenal physical and emotional power as Agojie general Nanisca. Her co-stars include Star Wars’ John Boyega as King Ghezo, but while he spends most of the film peacocking around the palace, the women are out doing bloody battle. The fight choreography is thrilling, and the then 56-year-old Davis did nearly all her own stunts.
In preparation, Davis and her female castmates, including erstwhile 007 Lashana Lynch and Thuso Mbedu, the fast-rising star of Barry Jenkins’ The Underground Railroad, embarked on a rehearsal period like no other. “I mean, I’m a woman who works out, but not like five hours a day,” says Davis. Today, she looks red-carpet-ready in a white pearlescent dress, with a full face of flawless makeup and hair piled high. Only her monogrammed hotel slippers suggest she is still in recuperation mode. “Me and Thuso would do choreography where we had to fight 15 or more men, on a day-to-day basis.” The sprinting, weightlifting and martial arts continued even after they had flown out to the South African shoot location, then in 30C heat. “Trust me,” Davis adds with a throaty chuckle, “by the time I got to the last stunt, I definitely celebrated with a glass of pinotage.”
