In Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, fans will find the great nation under siege following the passing of King T’Challa (played by the late Chadwick Boseman) and his decree to open their borders. A new threat rises from the deep, and Wakanda must rally its forces against world powers seeking to take advantage of their perceived vulnerability. On the front lines of their defense are the mighty Dora Milaje, a group of warriors led by Danai Gurira’s General Okoye.

Ahead of the film’s theatrical release, Gurira sat down with Collider’s Steve Weintraub to talk about the production and bringing this sequel to the big screen. In the interview, she shared what it was like working alongside writer and director Ryan Coogler, spoke on how the goal of the movie “was to honor Chadwick,” and the way scenes can shift depending on what “clicks” with Coogler’s vision. Gurira also recalls one of her most challenging days spent on both the set of Black Panther and The Walking Dead having to master a physical stunt on three hours of sleep.

COLLIDER: I want to start with a sincere congratulations. You are what's called fantastic in this role.

DANAI GURIRA: Thank you.

I can't imagine what it's like reading the script for you for the first time, because not only do you get to be funny, and you get to kick a ridiculous amount of ass, you also get to be emotional. It's like everything that you would want, I would imagine, as an actor. What was it like, actually, for you reading the script and seeing what Ryan wanted you to do?

GURIRA: Ryan actually talks you through it first, and then you get the script much later. So I was able to really think about a lot of what he'd told me before. And then, yes, then the script came later, and yeah, it was no small task. It was like, "Okay, this is amazing, but this is also a... It's a lot to accomplish." The whole goal of this movie was to honor Chadwick and that was really at the core of why we came back together after we'd lost him, was about honoring him through the legacy he started.

So, with him as an anchor and the memory of him as such an anchor, it was just knowing that watching him work the last time and how much he gave of himself at all times. You just go into this giving your all as well. And that's how you honor him.

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Image via Marvel

I think Ryan does such a phenomenal job on both of these movies. What is he like on set when he’s giving you direction? Does he pull you aside and give you a few words? Is he giving you a lot of sentences? What is he like when he’s asking you to do something?

GURIRA: Yeah, he definitely does some pull-asides. He'll come and talk to you, or he will pull you a little to the side. He's very collaborative. When he sees something he's telling you to, “Try it this way,” or, “Try it that way,” or he's changing up a line with you. He's really in it with you.

On the day of, it’s very much that moment in the process, where we're really cooking, is on the day, on the set. And that's where an idea will spark him. There are things that can shift in what you have done over several takes that could shift in the next take because something's clicked and that's exciting.

I can't even imagine. I have heard that there's an “Untitled Wakanda series” being developed. Nate has talked about it. I'm just curious what you might know about that series.

GURIRA: What has Nate said?

Nate has said that this movie took up a lot of time, and that they're not as far along on that as... I'm paraphrasing, but perhaps maybe you know more.

GURIRA: Oh well I'm not going to say more than Nate says. I mean, what do you think I am, crazy?

I'll ask you a different question. You've worked on many different projects and I'm always fascinated, what do you think was the hardest shot that you've had in your career in terms of whether it be because of camera moves, emotional performance, what's a shot that you will always remember as being, "Oh my God"?

GURIRA: Wow. A shot. Do you mean a scene or literally...

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Image via Marvel Studios

A shot or a scene, whatever you’d like to share, if you don’t mind.

GURIRA: Oh God. I mean, there's so many different moments, but I will say there was this time that I was shooting re-shoots for Black Panther at the same time as shooting The Walking Dead. So, because they both shoot in Atlanta, they were like, "Ah, you could just come here then go there." So, I was exhausted, and there was something I had to do for Black Panther in the re-shoots that I had been doing. I had three hours of sleep between Okoye and Michonne. Then I came in at the end of the day of shooting, I had to get in the harness, and do this thing.

In the first movie, I think there's a moment that you see where she's thrown off of a car and she has to catch her spear, and clamp down to get onto the road. I don't know if you remember that movie, in Korea, in the Korea sequence. I was in a harness and I had to flip myself. I had to use my own momentum and flip myself, and then catch my spear, which they had hanging somehow over my head. My body and my brain were just not even interested. They were like, "Look, we're done. You're crazy. We're out." And so it took a lot of takes because I just couldn't get it, I couldn't get the coordination together. I was just so exhausted.

And then somehow when Ryan was like, "Maybe we just need this part," I was like, "No, I can do this. I did it on Saturday." So finally, finally, somehow I clicked it and I did two takes that really got it, and was able to get it done for my character. But yeah, that was, just because of the level of exhaustion and the precision of the movement at the same time, it was not the easiest day.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever hits theaters November 11.