Black Panther 2 actor couldn’t swim before taking role as the Submariner

Actor Tenoch Huerta revealed that he couldn’t swim before joining the cast of Black Panther 2, despite the character being called the “Submariner”.

Judging by the trailer for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, it looks like the sequel to the beloved MCU film will have a lot of water in it. It stars Huerta as Namor the Submariner, a leader of Atlantis. But the actor didn’t know how to swim when he took on the role – a skill that might be pretty helpful as the leader of an underwater city.

“They asked me if I knew how to swim,” said Huerta. “I replied that I had never drowned and went back to my managers. Of course, I didn’t say anything then, because they weren’t going to give me the role. We had to explain to them through my lawyer in the United States that this is how we Mexicans are. We never say no.”

Credit: Disney

When Huerta eventually showed up to film without knowing how to swim, he had to undertake swimming lessons. He must have adapted pretty quickly, as he was fully into the role not long afterwards.

Wakanda Forever

Apparently, Marvel also worked with him on the character. They listened to “90 percent” of his notes and proposals for the Submariner, and considered him a collaborator. They also listened to his struggles off screen, which stem from him facing racism as a Mexican in the film industry.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever also stars Angela Bassett, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Danai Gurira, Lupita Nyong’o and Martin Freeman. It comes out later this year, and original director Ryan Coogler will return for the film.

The new movie will focus on the futuristic Wakanda as it fights to protect itself from intervening world powers after the death of their King, T’Challa. The actor for Black Panther, Chadwick Boseman, sadly passed away before the film entered production.

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