Dominique Thorne shares how grieving Chadwick Boseman shaped her ‘Ironheart’ performance

Dominique Thorne explains how Chadwick Boseman’s loss helped her connect with Riri Williams’ heart in Marvel’s “Ironheart” on Disney+.

Dominique Thorne is stepping into her power and the spotlight as the lead of Marvel’s “Ironheart” series on Disney+. Reprising her role as Riri Williams, the 19-year-old engineering genius introduced in 2022’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Thorne brings heart, brilliance, and depth to a character coming into her own in more ways than one.

Set in the vibrant heart of Chicago, Ironheart follows Riri as she returns home from Wakanda and grapples with the weight of genius, community, and loss. While the series centers Riri’s evolution into a superhero on her own terms, it also leans into something more intimate: the messy, nonlinear journey of grief.

“Unfortunately, [grief is] not a topic that I was unfamiliar with going into this project,” Thorne told theGrio. “I think, especially coming off the heels of ‘Wakanda Forever,’ there was a lot of familiarity about what it looks like and feels like to collectively mourn someone within the context of this world [Marvel].” 

Before donning the Ironheart suit, Thorne originally auditioned for the role of Shuri in Black Panther. That screen test introduced her not just to the Marvel Universe but to the late Chadwick Boseman. While Letitia Wright ultimately landed the role, Thorne’s path circled back in 2022 when she was cast in “Wakanda Forever,” a film she described as a tribute to Boseman, who died from colon cancer in 2020.

“This film is a tribute to the late great Chadwick Boseman and his legacy, not only as a person, an intellect, an actor and a scholar, but also as T’Challa,” Thorne previously told the Hollywood Reporter. 

Three years later, Thorne is now the heartbeat of Ironheart, a series that doesn’t shy away from the pain that shapes us. Riri’s relationship with grief mirrors Thorne’s own lived experience. It’s tender. It’s raw. And it’s real.

“I think understanding just from my own life that grief is this thing that most of us know comes and goes whenever it feels like it. It is absolutely something that you can’t fake,” the actress shared. “And I think it’s a necessary chapter that Riri has to explore within herself, and we’re beginning to see what it looks like for her to reach her limit, to reach the point where she can’t run away from it anymore, she can’t ignore it anymore.”

In “Ironheart,” grief isn’t a side note. It’s part of the hero’s journey. Through Riri and those around her, the show explores what it means to hold space for loss while still moving forward.

“We’re seeing grief do what grief does, which is demand. You give it that time and you give it that attention, and inadvertently, you give the [lost] loved one that respect, which we also get to see in the show once Riri does submit,” she concluded.