Houston’s Comicpalooza included a lot of exciting guests, and two guests that many people were hyped up for were Tenoch Huerta and Dominique Thorne of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. If you’re a fan of the film, you know that Tenoch plays Namor and Dominique plays Riri Williams/Ironheart.

What Informed Their Acting Process?

A lot of the discussion involved how each actor prepared for their roles. Dominique learned about her character from The Invicible Iron Man comic book series, Iron Heart comics, and by working closely with director Ryan Coogler.

On the other hand, Tenoch didn’t really research any of the comic book series. He focused heavily on what was provided to him through the script and culture. Tenoch went on to explain that leadership in Mesoamerican cultures is very different. By focusing on this and his ancestry, he was able to successfully portray Namor.

Do They Relate To Their Characters?

Although Tenoch and Dominique are different from their characters, they explained that there were definitely aspects they related to. For Tenoch, he has a love of his ancestry and culture, which really connected him to Namor. He also explained that as a father, you feel a need to protect, which he relayed to Namor’s duty of protecting his people. As for Dominique, she could relate to Riri’s academic experience and how this contrasted to where they were from (Riri being from Chicago, and Dominique being from Brooklyn).

Some Interesting/Funny Facts From Set

Both Dominique and Tenoch were not experienced swimmers; in fact, Dominique had a fear of water before shooting Wakanda Forever. The two went through intense water training for months to prepare for their roles. Although Dominique is proud of being able to hold her breath for 2 minutes, the two mentioned that Mabel Cadena (who plays Namora), can hold her breath for 8 minutes!

While speaking about this training, Tenoch went on to tell a story involving his stunt double. One of his daughters happened to be on set one day while both Tenoch and his stunt double were working. Tenoch’s stunt double was filming a scene, and even though Tenoch was standing next to his daughter, she thought the stunt double was him! Tenoch also laughed reminiscing on his daughter being more amazed by a construction crane than by the scenes that they were filming.

Dominique Thorne and Tenoch Huerta can both be seen in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Dominique can also be seen in the upcoming Ironheart series coming to Disney+.