You’ve probably seen the posters. Viola Davis looking fierce, holding a machete, leading a line of warriors into the Dahomey sunset. But honestly, the cast of Woman King is doing way more than just playing parts in a historical epic. They’re basically rewriting how Hollywood thinks about action stars. When Gina Prince-Bythewood sat down to piece this ensemble together, she wasn't just looking for big names; she was looking for athletes, historians, and actors who could handle a grueling three-month boot camp that would break most people.
It’s rare.
Usually, in these big-budget period pieces, you get one or two standouts and a bunch of background fluff. Not here. From the raw vulnerability of Thuso Mbedu to the sheer, terrifying physical presence of Lashana Lynch, the chemistry is what keeps the movie from feeling like a dry history lesson. It’s vibrant. It’s loud. It’s sweaty.
Viola Davis and the Weight of Nanisca
Viola Davis is the sun that this entire system orbits around. We know she’s an EGOT winner. We know she can deliver a monologue that makes you want to cry and reconsider your entire life. But seeing her as General Nanisca was different. She had to gain significant muscle mass, training for months in weight lifting and martial arts. She’s 50-plus and doing her own stunts. That matters. It changes the energy of the film because you aren't looking at a stunt double’s back for half the fights.
Nanisca is a complicated leader. She’s haunted. Davis plays her with this sort of stillness that suggests a woman who has seen way too much but refuses to look away. According to interviews with the production team, Davis was the one pushing for the "no-makeup" look, wanting the scars and the grit to be the focus rather than some polished Hollywood version of a 19th-century African general.
There's a specific scene where she’s training the new recruits, and her eyes just... they flicker. It’s a masterclass. You see the conflict between her duty to the King and her trauma from the past. It’s the kind of performance that grounds the entire movie in reality, even when the action gets stylized.
The Breakout Energy of Thuso Mbedu and Lashana Lynch
If Viola is the anchor, Thuso Mbedu is the heart. She plays Nawi, the recruit who basically says "no thanks" to an arranged marriage and finds herself in the Agojie. Most people outside of South Africa hadn't seen much of Mbedu before The Underground Railroad, but here, she’s a revelation. She has this way of looking small and fragile one second and then absolutely lethal the next. Her relationship with the rest of the cast of Woman King feels authentic because she actually went through the same brutal training as the veterans.
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Then there’s Izogie.
Lashana Lynch basically steals every single scene she’s in. Seriously. If you saw her as Nomi in No Time to Die, you knew she could handle action, but as Izogie, she brings a sense of humor that the movie desperately needs. She’s the big sister of the group. She uses her fingernails as weapons. Think about that for a second. The character design for Izogie was specifically built around Lynch’s ability to mix "cool" with "deadly." She’s the one who teaches Nawi that being a warrior isn't just about swinging a sword; it’s about the mental toughness to survive the aftermath.
John Boyega as King Ghezo: A Different Kind of Power
It would have been easy to make King Ghezo a background character or a one-dimensional "bad guy" or "good guy." But John Boyega brings this weirdly charming, slightly arrogant, yet deeply conflicted vibe to the throne. He’s the King of Dahomey, a kingdom built on the wealth of the slave trade, and the movie doesn’t shy away from that messiness.
Boyega played the King as a man caught between tradition and a changing world. He’s draped in these incredible silks, surrounded by his many wives, but he always looks like he’s calculating the cost of his next move. His interactions with Davis are some of the best "quiet" moments in the film. You can tell there’s a history there—a mutual respect that’s constantly being tested by political pressure.
He’s not the hero. He’s a politician. And Boyega nails that nuance without losing the charisma that made him a star in the first place.
The Supporting Warriors You Might Have Missed
Sheila Atim. Keep that name in your head. She plays Amenza, Nanisca’s right hand and spiritual advisor. In many ways, she’s the most stable person in the movie. While everyone else is screaming or fighting or crying, Amenza is the one holding the line. Atim has this incredible height and presence—she’s a decorated stage actor in the UK—and she uses her body language to convey a sense of ancient wisdom.
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Then you have the rest of the Agojie recruits. Adrienne Warren (who won a Tony for playing Tina Turner on Broadway) shows up as Oda. Jordan Bolger plays Malik, the biracial traveler who provides a window into the outside world’s perspective on Dahomey. Every one of these actors had to learn how to move as a unit.
The choreography wasn't just "hit this guy, then that guy." It was based on actual historical accounts of how the Dahomey Amazons fought. They were known for being incredibly fast and using a variety of weapons, including those massive blunderbuss guns and specially designed machetes. The cast spent months learning how to handle these tools so they looked like extensions of their own arms.
Why the Casting Matters for History (and the Future)
Let’s talk about the elephant in the room: historical accuracy. The cast of Woman King has faced some criticism regarding how the film handles the Kingdom of Dahomey’s involvement in the slave trade. It’s a valid conversation. However, from a performance standpoint, the actors don't shy away from the darker elements.
The film highlights the internal struggle within the kingdom. Nanisca explicitly argues against the slave trade, pushing the King toward palm oil production instead. While the real history is perhaps more bleak and less "triumphant" than a two-hour Hollywood movie can fully capture, the cast brings a weight to these debates that feels earned.
They aren't playing caricatures. They’re playing people trapped in a brutal system.
By casting dark-skinned Black women in these lead roles—roles that involve being powerful, vulnerable, and physically dominant—the film broke a massive glass ceiling. You don't see this often. You don't see a studio greenlight a $50 million epic where the entire primary cast looks like this. The success of the film proved that there is a massive global audience for stories that don't center on the traditional "hero’s journey" tropes we’ve seen a thousand times.
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The Physicality of the Performance
The training wasn't a joke. We’re talking:
- 90 minutes of weight lifting a day.
- Two hours of fight choreography.
- Running, sprinting, and agility drills.
- Weapon specialized training (spears, swords, bows).
Viola Davis mentioned in an interview with Vanity Fair that she had never been in that kind of shape in her life. She said she felt "badass." That feeling translates to the screen. When you see the Agojie running through the high grass, it doesn't look like actors on a soundstage in Atlanta (though parts were filmed in South Africa). It looks like a legitimate military force.
The scars you see on the characters? Those are based on real historical markings. The hair? All natural styles that would have been practical for warriors. The production designer and costume department worked closely with the cast to make sure that nothing felt "costumey." Everything had a purpose.
Actionable Takeaways for Fans and Creatives
If you’re looking at the cast of Woman King and wondering why it worked so well, it comes down to a few specific things that other films often miss. First, the commitment to physical reality. When actors do their own stunts, the camera can stay on their faces longer, which keeps the audience emotionally invested in the fight.
Second, the diversity of personality. Not every warrior is the "strong, silent type." You have the joker, the mentor, the hot-head, and the strategist. This variety makes the group feel like a real community rather than a monolith.
Next Steps for Deep Diving:
- Watch the Behind-the-Scenes Documentaries: Most streaming versions and Blu-rays include "Woman King: A Warrior's Spirit." It shows the actual training camps. It’s grueling to watch but gives you a whole new respect for Thuso Mbedu and Lashana Lynch.
- Read "The Amazons of Black Sparta": If you want the real, gritty, non-Hollywood history of the Agojie, this book by Stanley Alpern is the primary source many historians use. It’s fascinating and puts the cast's performances into a much broader historical context.
- Check Out the Cast's Other Work: To see the range, watch Lashana Lynch in Matilda the Musical (she’s Miss Honey!) right after watching her decapitate people in The Woman King. It’ll blow your mind. Or catch Thuso Mbedu in The Underground Railroad to see her incredible dramatic range.
The legacy of this cast isn't just the box office numbers. It’s the fact that they proved Black women can lead a global action franchise without compromising on emotional depth or historical complexity. They did the work. They did the training. And they left everything on the field.