DeWanda Wise Left ‘Captain Marvel’ After Hearing About Marvel Acting Style: ‘My Own Personal Nightmare’

March 17, 2024 @ 12:12 PM

DeWanda Wise was originally tapped to play Maria Rambeau, best friend to Carol Danvers, in 2019’s “Captain Marvel.” DeWise later said she backed out due to other filming obligations, but in an interview with Collider published Sunday, the “Jurassic World Dominion” star revealed a major reason had to do with the way Marvel actors work, which she described as “my own personal nightmare.”

“When I almost did Captain Marvel, there was a crew member, because I was going down the process, and they said to me, ‘Yeah, you know how it is, these movies, you hit your mark, you say your line, you go home’ … I heard that and I was like, ‘That is my own personal nightmare.… pic.twitter.com/n6TthhDBa9

— Perri Nemiroff (@PNemiroff) March 17, 2024

“I don’t think I’ve said this, and this is not good news, but when I almost did ‘Captain Marvel,’ there was a crew member — because I was going down the process, and they said to me, ‘Yeah, you know how it is, these movies, you hit your mark, you say your line, you go home,’” she explained.

“I heard that and I was like, ‘That is my own personal nightmare. That sounds crazy and terrible to me,’” DeWise added.

In 2022, DeWise told Collider a different version of why she left the project. She originally said that leaving “Captain Marvel” was out of her hands due to an existing TV role and explained, “It wasn’t a choice. I committed to ‘She’s Gotta Have It.’ When you commit to something, you commit to it.”

“And it just so happened that when they decided to essentially expand the role in ‘Captain Marvel’ a little longer, a little larger, it conflicted with a very specific moment that we were shooting in Season 2, a very special episode that we shot that I would not trade for anything in the world when we shot in Puerto Rico.”

She also said that not being able to shoot the “Captain Marvel” part was personally disappointing. “That was experientially, spiritually, personally one of the most remarkable and life-changing moments of my life. So it was painful. It was painful to be told no at the time.”

“It wasn’t something that I didn’t have to grieve and process and be like, wow, this was a really big opportunity that felt like, at the time, that it was taken from me, but now of course, when you play it back and you’re like, ‘Oh, I’m playing a pilot. Here’s why. Here’s why. That’s why this didn’t happen, so that I could do this in this way.’”

Happily, DeWise went on to play pilot Kayla Watts in “Jurassic World Dominion.” Her comments on “Captain Marvel” followed her explanation for how she approaches acting in blockbuster films the same way she does any other role, still seeking the “emotional truth.” She described as “the Viola Davis school of acting,” citing her deep commitment to her role in the “Hunger Games” franchise.

Watch the interview with DeWise in the video above.