DeWanda Wise COVERS ROLLACOASTER MAGAZINE SPRING/SUMMER

The Jurassic World trilogy is out June 10th - and leading the cast alongside seasoned action stars like Chris Pratt, is newcomer DeWanda Wise. You might recognise her from Fatherhood, or She’s Gotta Have It - but here she plays a new type of character - the fearless and witty pilot Kayla. It’s refreshing to finally have a woman of colour leading an action movie of this scale - even more so given the fact that she plays a multi-faceted, complex character, leads the action, and performs stunts that leave the viewer reeling. She steals the screen - Wise is the action star we’ve long been waiting for. 

Speaking to Rollacoaster, she exclaims “It’s amazing to have work that is, honestly, deserving of our talent. And I say ‘our’ in reference to women of colour who are actors. To have a role on the scale of Jurassic, that's not just a minor role, but something that you can sink your teeth into, and have the same craftsmanship and nerdy character backstory and do the work that you've been doing for almost 20 years - it's a real gift. It's both affirming and humbling. I took it as the call to arms and responsibility that I felt it deserved.”

We caught up with Wise to discuss how she got into character when playing Kayla, what it was like performing stunts alongside Chris Pratt (hint: it was no mean feat - she had to learn how to fly a plane), and what being an empowered woman means to her.