During a conversation with VIBE , Thorne, 25, admitted that receiving a call from Marvel Studios was both “humbling” and “incredible.” Yet, she still had her “reservations about accepting [the] role.”
“I admittedly had my hesitations, I had my reservations about accepting this role. I mean, of course to have Marvel call your phone is humbling and incredible, and definitely an honor in a way. But I had questions about what that would [that] look like, and what that would mean, what it could mean. Many of which were coming from a place of fear, to be fully transparent. Fear and concerns about what this would mean for my career. Because I see myself, especially at that time, a theater actor.”
“I come from Brooklyn, I’m from New York. I went to high school in the Theater District. So my life, in terms of acting, up until that point, was about Off-Broadway plays, or plays at my high school, or local theater…And it wasn’t until leading up to graduation that I got inspired by film, and I felt like I could see myself there. But all that to say that, when I got that phone call, I was definitely taken back to that place of, ‘Cool. That’s a lot.’ And a lot in a way that, of course, we have all heard the term typecasting. And I was so fearful about the potential to be only ever seen as Ironheart or Riri [Williams]. When in my heart, I want to do so much. I want to be able to do so much authentically, too. And the idea of being forever tied to this huge character was definitely nerve-wracking for me in the beginning.”
The actress who gave audiences their first glimpse of Ironheart, also known as Riri Williams, in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever , continued, adding that her family made her rethink declining the daunting opportunity. Dominique cited representation for her younger brothers as the primary factor in moving forward with playing the Marvel Comics tech prodigy.
“Considering the other side of that scale and how much that meant also [factored into] how much of an opportunity that could be. And how much potential to bring that same authenticity, that I would hope for and pray to see in the rest of my life and in the rest of my career, into this opportunity that’s being given and granted to me, presently. That was one. And two, I’m the eldest of three. So I have two younger brothers. One’s 15, that’s Ky-Mani, and the youngest is Caleb, who’s 7.”
“And hearing, seeing, feeling the excitement from Caleb when he can say that his sister is Ironheart, is like, it’s untouchable. That’s a feeling that’s undeniable, it really is. So, rather than give into the very loud, fearful thoughts that were in my head at the time, I ultimately made the decision, kind of the risk in my opinion, to give into the intersection of those other two. Which is, how badly I want to see something authentic on screen, and how much I know this means to this little kid who’s so important to me. It’s so much bigger than the impact that you hope to make, or that you think you can make when you think about making a movie.”
Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige announced in December 2020 that the Judas and the Black Messiah actress would star as Riri Williams in her own Disney+ show in Fall 2023. While the series is currently without a specific date, the show is briefly detailed on Marvel.com “as Marvel Studios’ Ironheart stars Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams, a genius inventor who creates the most advanced suit of armor since Iron Man.”
The cast for Ironheart currently includes Dominique Thorne as Ironheart/Riri Williams, with Lyric Ross, Alden Ehrenreich, Anthony Ramos, Manny Montana, Shea Couleé, and Zoe Terakes rounding out the show’s talent.
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