The world first met MIT student Riri Williams in 2022’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” Now, Riri has her own Marvel television show.
“Ironheart” debuts on Disney+ on June 24, and stars Dominique Thorne as the titular superhero, a sort of spiritual successor to Tony Stark’s Iron Man. The show will follow Riri as she returns home to Chicago following the events of “Wakanda Forever.”
Before making her first appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thorne appeared in films such as Barry Jenkins’ “If Beale Street Could Talk” and “Judas and the Black Messiah.” In a conversation with Rough Draft Atlanta, Thorne talked about making the jump to the MCU, her interest in immigration legislation, and how it feels to finally tackle a big leading role.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
You went to a performing arts school and then went to Cornell University and didn’t major in something arts related. I’m curious why you went that route, and when you decided that acting was something you wanted to do professionally?
Dominique Thorne: I knew that I loved acting the moment that I started, but when it came time to apply to college – and I knew for sure that I was going to go to college – I realized that I had one other interest, and that was immigration legislation. I had a lot of questions about it, and there was so much that I didn’t understand. Ultimately, I was like, I gave four years to this beautiful, beautiful experience at [Professional Performing Arts School]. Maybe I should give the next four to something else and see what happens.
Freshman year, it was orientation weekend that I realized I would not be leaving acting behind. They actually had our freshman orientation in the auditorium of the theater department building. And that sold me already. I was like, oh my God – I get to take classes here! So, I did not major in anything artistic at Cornell, but I absolutely found myself in the department.
What spurred your interest in immigration legislation?
Thorne: Growing up in New York City, in this melting pot, this ethnic enclave of so many beautifully rich cultures – I didn’t realize how unique that was until I left the city and started traveling within the U.S. and seeing how different that experience was. But what I did know and what I did understand was that people are beautiful. I think it was seeing that in each other that made me want to advocate for our stories to be told, and for our humanity to be brought to the forefront again and again and again.
But, I could feel at the same time how difficult it felt to attain the bare minimum, growing up in an immigrant family. When Barack Obama passed the DACA act. I thought, Whoa – this seems like the first piece of kindness, you know? And kindness even feels like not the best word, but it felt like that at the time. Like maybe this isn’t just a brutal system, right? There is some work being done in the background to actually make living more equitable for everyone that is in the country.
I just wanted to know more. I wanted to understand it. I had a lot of questions, and Cornell had a great Policy Analysis and Management major, which is what I was accepted for and studied for the first half of my time there. But I realized that a lot of what goes into getting these policies made and ultimately passed – that was a lot of the work that we did in that major – I ultimately just wasn’t comfortable with turning someone’s lived experience and quality of life down into a number … I did get the answers to the questions that I had, and I realized how necessary that work is. But I felt better suited to be on the other side of that, which is looking at someone’s quality of life, asking questions about why it is the way that it is, and finding ways to amplify that perspective so that others can hear and have the opportunity to be changed, to become more empathetic, and advocate for that shared human experience.
You’ve been in a few movies that I really love – “If Beale Street Could Talk” is probably one of my favorite films of the last 10 years. But that movie, and a movie like “Judas and the Black Messiah,” those are relatively smaller sets compared to something like “Black Panther 2: Wakanda Forever.” What was it like for you to make the leap to something that large so quickly?
Thorne: It was insane, so incredible. In a lot of ways, I just felt like a fan getting in and hoping nobody notices I’m here! [laughs] It was really, really cool. I felt like a student again, just getting to learn and to take in from these incredible actors who’ve obviously done this before, who created the world, and the filmmakers and the machine of talent behind the camera and on set that make all of that possible and make that what it is. It was incredible to witness what a well-oiled machine it all is.
I know you auditioned for Shuri back in the day, but what initially attracted you to the role of Riri?
Thorne: I remember seeing the artwork in college, and thinking, whoa – that is really cool. That’s really beautiful to see an iron helmet and an afro in the same context, right? And that was about the extent of it, that was as far as I thought about it. There was a sense of appreciation, kind of similar to DACA coming out – [it] feels good to see people moving in that direction. Then I didn’t hear anything, or know about it again, until they gave me the call for us to be here [laughs]. Any additional thinking that I did about it was kind of on the job.
What was that additional thinking? In “Wakanda Forever,” you’re there, but it’s kind of a smaller role. With the TV show, what has it been like for you to dig further into the character, and what have you found in that process?
Thorne: Oh, man – it’s been really incredible to see how the environment and the world informs so much of who a person is. I think the fact that we get to spend some time in Chicago – whereas in “Wakanda Forever,” we met Riri in MIT. She’s on her own, doing her own thing – [But] when we go back to Chicago, we’re seeing her friends, her family, where she grew up. We’re getting information in context about this person that in a lot of ways tells us more about them than anything that they might say probably will. I think leaning into that was really interesting. A lot of the answers for me came out of that – out of Chicago.
I read an article with you where you were talking about how this is the first time you’ve led something this large, but you surprisingly felt more prepared than you might have expected going into it. You weren’t quite as nervous. What do you think helped you have that confidence and feel prepared to come into something like this?
Thorne: I’ve had really great teachers in my life, and I’m very thankful for that. From high school onward, I’ve had a lot of great acting teachers who have always encouraged me and pushed me to do more than what I probably thought I was capable of, or for sure more than what I might have been comfortable with in the moment. And then, going to college and auditioning and getting no after no after no … it’s almost like developing muscle. You just kind of keep going [laughs]. I give a lot of credit to my teachers who pushed me to always take one step further than what you think you can do.
And then starting to work professionally for the first time, and being on set with people like Aunjanue Ellis [Taylor] and seeing how she absolutely transforms once the camera starts rolling. Any number of the phenomenal people that I have had the privilege to see them work – Jesse Plemons, just any one of them – that was also encouraging to me to see that the work is only just beginning.
I think when you finally get an opportunity to do something that you’ve been thinking about for so long – and honestly, I don’t know that I ever thought about being a lead. I just thought about wanting to do the work – it doesn’t really feel like [affects frightened whisper], “Oh my god!” It feels more like, oh my god – we get to do this thing! And it just so happens that I have a lot more screen time [laughs].
