She may play Valkyrie in Thor: Ragnarok, but actor Tessa Thompson had a fight on her hands for a different reason after she refused to say a very specific word in Creed III.
The 39-year-old actor is appearing in the latest instalment of the boxing franchise, returning as Adonis Creed’s love interest, Bianca.
You can watch the trailer for the new movie below:
While the actor might not have any on-screen fights, Thompson did have a battle of words over one choice phrase.
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This is despite the Rocky spin-off going on to have one of the biggest box office openings this year as it knocks out the competition.
Creed III picks up where the last film left off, with Adonis Creed (played by Michael B Jordan) at the top of his game and about to step into the ring against a worthy rival.
This time he’s up against childhood friend Damian (Jonathan Majors), a former boxing prodigy whose recently been released from an extensive stint in prison.
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With his formal rival having nothing to lose, Adonis must defend not only his title but his family.
As the franchise goes from strength to strength, Thompson fought for her character’s development and began with one iconic phrase.
The Thor: Ragnarok actor refused to say ‘jawn’, despite the Philly slang term - which can refer to any thing, place or person - being used as a key bonding moment between Adonis and Bianca in an earlier film.
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Thompson explained her decision to The Hollywood Reporter, saying she felt the character had moved on: "I said to them, 'I'm not saying jawn in this movie because we've heard it, we've done it. I want to break new territory.”
She continued, adding: "Not saying 'jawn' was also a way of saying inside of the filmmaking that you are going to witness someone that is constantly evolving."
While the word may have been retired, Thompson is far from done with her character and said that there were more ‘narrative possibilities’ as she teased about future films.
In addition to ‘jawn’, another noticeable absence from the film will be actor Sylvester Stallone, who originally created the Rocky franchise in 1976.
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The 76-year-old had appeared in every film but bowed out of the beloved boxing franchise, after a bitter feud with producer Irwin Winkler.
They fell out after Stallone sold the character rights to Winkler, unaware of how big the boxing films would eventually become.
It’s unlikely that the actor will stars in any future sequels either, after he made a jab at Winkler saying: “[It] eats at my soul, because I wanted to leave something of Rocky for my children.”
Topics: Boxing, Celebrity, Film and TV, Jonathan Majors, Michael B. Jordan