Tessa Thompson is elated to return to the screen as one of her most beloved recurring characters, Bianca Taylor, the musician and long-time love interest-turned-wife of boxing great Adonis Creed in Creed III.
In the film, both Adonis and Bianca are embracing new chapters in their lives as leaders in their chosen craft, rather than stepping front and center in the ring and on the stage themselves. It sees Bianca in her own new chapter, independent of that which our protagonist has going on – a rarity for a sports film that focuses on big fights and bigger wins.
“It’s the thing I’ve always really loved about Bianca,” Thompson tells ESSENCE. “I like that [through all three films] I’ve always been asked to be a co-author, and asked ‘where is she now? Where do you imagine she might be?’ We always try to really refine her and make sure she has real specificity, and that even and especially while she’s supporting him, she has her own interior life. You don’t get to see that in a lot of sports films.”
Thompson says it’s even more exciting to revisit the character at different intervals in her own life, finding the parallels between her own growth and maturity and what Bianca has become over the years.
“I think also, playing the character for so many years, I’ve matured and I’ve grown,” she says. “Getting to also bring that to her and having her be a part of my story and my story be a part of hers, it’s a really beautiful, very rare thing.”
Creed III opens in theaters nationwide on March 3, 2023.