Janeshia Adams-Ginyard wears many hats, she is an Emmy-nominated American actress, a stunt woman, a professional wrestler, a sports radio personality, and a motivational speaker. She created lots of buzz after breaking the internet during the Black Panther 2 World Premiere by displaying honor to the late Chadwick Boseman in Body Paint.
FEMI Magazine was grateful and honored for the opportunity to catch up with Janeshia Adams-Ginyard to discuss her latest work.
FEMI MAGAZINE: Describe your experience as a Black Panther Cast member.
As an original cast member from the first Black Panther, this second go-round on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever felt like a homecoming. It was a pleasant feeling knowing that I would be on this journey again to make movie magic with some old friends and familiar faces.
Working on the first Black Panther was a dream come true. Not only was it my first full run on a movie, but it was the first time in all my years of working in the industry that I was on a project that had all African-American leads. It was a total vibe. Melanin was poppin!
FEMI MAGAZINE: Can you share your experience working on set with Chadwick Boseman?
Chadwick was a real delight. Watching him fully commit and transform into T’Challa / Black Panther was something magical. When we would finish shooting a scene, he’d still be in T’Challa mode and speak to you in his Wakanda accent. He definitely wanted to give the total vibe of Wakanda.
He even made sure we had a drummer that played Afro-beats while we trained and worked on fight choreography. That was awesome! He knew that would not only spice up the morale but added to the environment and culture that was being created for Wakanda. He was smart. He understood the task at hand. And he made sure the cast and crew felt like a family by hosting parties where we could all hang out outside of the set.
Overall, he was great to be around. True professional. And funny! I know he thought I was a hoot because I would say things and he’d laugh and give me that look like, “girl you crazy.” And then he’d bust out into his James Brown shuffle.
FEMI MAGAZINE: Such a beauty you were in your tribal paint attire, please tell us more about your painting experience and who helped with the design.
Thank you very much. Yeah, so I had been planning that for months! I knew that for the world premiere, two things had to be accomplished: One, I had to outdo myself from my 2018 Black Panther World Premiere purple carpet look, and two, honor Chadwick. After mulling over a couple of ideas and concepts, I stuck with taking it back to the way my ancestors would celebrate different life events and occasions.
This was a celebration for me. Without even knowing what the premiere wardrobe theme was I knew what I was going to do. I didn’t even get an official invite until less than a week before the premiere, so it wasn’t like I had a heads-up or anything on the theme. I’m saying this to let you know just how far ahead I thought and planned this out. And for you to see just how much I was in alignment with everything because the wardrobe theme for the premiere was celebratory attire.
But, I knew that if it wasn’t for Chad, there wouldn’t be a sequel. He gave the world such a commanding performance as the Black Panther that that is why we have a sequel and can launch new characters, etc. So with that, I wanted to celebrate him in the beautiful ancestral fashion of body paint. I reached out to my friend Jo Steel who has painted me before and informed her of my plan of wanting to do full body paint for the premiere and a portrait of Chad on my back. And she was all in! She didn’t hesitate one bit. I would send her reference pictures of African art, masks, tribal markings, etc. We stuck with a four-color base palette: Purple is my favorite color, green was my mom’s favorite color, red is my man’s favorite color, and yellow is the color of the sun and symbolizes positive energy and happiness. After the colors were set, she started her sketches and sent me examples. Total collaboration that I’m so incredibly happy the world received with open arms. We did that! We killed the purple carpet that night.
FEMI MAGAZINE: How do you prepare for a role?
If available, I read the script and break down my character. What am I doing? What is the goal here? And I also want to make sure I have an understanding of the overall piece of work that is being created.
If my character has action, I’m making sure I’m doing my full body circuit training, doing my Taekwondo, and maintaining my KETO lifestyle.
FEMI MAGAZINE: Working with the black panther cast, what was your most memorable moment?
On the first Black Panther, my most memorable moment was working on my birthday, Valentine’s Day, which also happens to be Danai Gurira’s birthday. We were shooting the casino fight scene, and I was sick as a dog. My allergies were at their worst. Ryan was checking on me while we were shooting. When we were finished, Ryan was like “Great work Janeshia. I know you weren’t feeling good, but everything looks great!” And then at the end, everyone sang happy birthday to me and Danai.
On Wakanda Forever one of my most memorable moments was fighting underwater and then getting saved by Ironheart. That’s straight fire! Like I said that when we were shooting, but then seeing it in the movie was like, “wow, let’s go!” I’ve done some water stuff before on other projects but nothing like what was required on this sequel. I was literally fighting underwater! I mean, the underwater element in this movie changed the game.
FEMI MAGAZINE: As an athlete, wrestler, and stuntwoman, what does your diet consist of and what’s your favorite food to eat?
I live a KETO lifestyle and am strict when I’m working. I do low to no carbs. When people are counting calories, I’m counting grams of carbs! But my favorite thing to eat is baked salmon and broccoli.
But when I’m not on my KETO, I’m eating Asian food. I love sweet and sour chicken. And my snacks of choice are Nutella and Milano Cookies. Can’t get enough of those
FEMI MAGAZINE: Out of your numerous interviews, what’s something special you would like to exclusively share with FEMI?
I am an animal mom. I have three dogs and a horse!
Be sure to check out Janeshia Adams-Ginyard in the upcoming holiday movie, Letters At Christmas, and connect with her on Instagram @hollywoodladyj.
All images courtesy of Janeshia Adams- Ginyard
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