On November 11 we return to Wakanda in Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Ahead of the theatrical release, actress Lupita Nyong’o, who plays Nakia in the films, sat down with Collier’s Steve Weintraub to talk about her experience returning to set following the passing of Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman. In the movies, Nakia is a member of Wakanda’s central intelligence the War Dogs, and T’Challa’s (Boseman) partner. It was Nakia who softened King T’Challa to the idea of opening their realm’s borders and sharing their resources, which may prove to have detrimental consequences in Wakanda Forever.

On top of the outside threats challenging Wakanda’s strength, their nation is having to rebuild emotionally in the wake of King T’Challa’s death. During this interview, Nyong’o discusses how filming Wakanda Forever provided catharsis and shared what it’s like working with Coogler. She also revealed her toughest shoot wasn’t battling mutants in the MCU, but “...music, children, animals…and zombies.” You can read the full interview below, or watch the video above.

COLLIDER: I really want to start with a sincere congratulations. I'm sure everyone coming through has said the exact same thing. I have to know, this project means a lot to a lot of people. You guys wanted to honor Chadwick. Did you put almost more pressure on yourself, making this movie, than you have on your previous projects?

LUPITA NYONG’O: I would say I put less pressure on myself making this film. Losing Chadwick was such a real thing. It was devastating. It was discombobulating. It was so hard. His death really hit hard, and especially because I experienced it in isolation, as did everyone else. It was a tough time in the world. And then this was added to our plate. And so, when it came time to figure out how we were going to move forward with Black Panther without him, I couldn't even imagine how it was going to happen.

Ryan walked me through the story, and I was just so relieved because the story embraces the loss. And our story is that loss serves as a springboard from which we're telling the story. It explores grief in all its complexity and how different people respond to grief in varied ways.

And so, when it came time to make this film, life is just too short to be stressed out. What is the pressure for? I was just so happy to get back to this, to honor Chadwick, and to play for a living. I was counting my blessings every day. And so, it was light. It was light, it was cathartic. And I embraced the process and just went with it.

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Image via Marvel

Ryan does such a great job with this material. He's so good. I'm curious what he's like on set when he's directing you. When he wants you to adjust something in your performance, is it a few words, or does he pull you aside and it's full sentences?

NYONG’O: Oh yeah. Ryan will come to you, and he bows a little bit, and pulls you into a huddle like a sports coach. And he'll go, "It's good, It's good." And then he'll give you a note. And the note will usually be a very short sentence. See, he doesn't talk much. He just gives you enough, and then he opens it up for you to respond. Yeah. But I care so much about what Ryan thinks, so he always has to start off with, "This is not bad."

My last question for you: you've worked on many different projects. What shot was the toughest one you've had in your career in terms of camera move or emotional complexity? What's the one that was really the tough one?

NYONG’O: Of all the movies I've worked on? Wow. Shot that was hard to shoot. My God. Well, I did this movie in Australia called Little Monsters, and it had music, children, animals.

Oh, I saw the movie.

NYONG’O: And zombies. And you could imagine how tough it was to get all those things to cooperate. So I can't remember one shot, but I just remember that movie was hard to make. And sometimes we were shooting without the children, and I had to sing to an open space. It was wild.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever hits theaters November 11.