Marvel star Letitia Wright on overzealous fans and trying to ‘suss out’ Robert Downey Jr-James Mottram-Entertainment – Metro

Letitia Wright chats to Metro about her new film The Silent Twins (Picture: Getty)

Marvel Cinematic Universe actress Letitia Wright, 29, on how her Marvel role brings more attention to her independent projects, engaging with passionate fans, and her new film The Silent Twins.

In your time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, in which you play Black Panther’s Shuri, which Marvel actor did you really want to meet?

I guess… Robert. Iron Man. Can I suss him out? But he was cool! I had lunch with him – just sitting opposite Robert Downey Jr, having lunch – what the heck? He’s like, ‘Do you wanna soda?’ OK! Just having fun.

That changed a lot. He wasn’t [too proud] to serve someone else or give help or chat and ask you how everything’s been going. He was cool.

Another person I was really interested to meet was Chris Pratt. I just really love him as a person. He really embraced me, showed me a lot of love.

Letitia wanted to figure out fellow Marvel star Robert Downey Jr (Picture: Rodin Eckenroth/Getty)

Do you engage much with fans online?

When you’re a part of the Marvel universe, whoever tweets about anything, they’re going to be on you!

People are like, ‘Tell us what you know?’ I’m like, ‘Hey, I just said the suit was cool. Leave me alone, I’m logging off now!’ They’re excited and their excitement makes me excited. I’m really happy about that.

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Do you ever take any mementos from set?

Nah! They don’t let you take stuff.

In The Silent Twins, you play the Welsh-Barbadian June Gibbons, who spoke only to her twin Jennifer for years. How did you get involved?

Before it became a film, I saw it on YouTube, like most of my friends who came across this documentary about them, and I was intrigued. And then I forgot about it for a couple of years and then I met Aga [Smoczynska, director].

I was doing a play at the Young Vic and she came with this book andsaid, ‘Hey, there’s this movie we’re making.’

I’m like, ‘I know this story’ –I felt like there’s more to them. And then right after that, we started casting and found the wonderful Tamara Lawrance [to play June’s sister, Jennifer]. Once we found Tamara, I had that person to be vulnerable with.

The twins’ story is tragic, especially when they’re sent to Broadmoor for 11 years after going on a crime spree of burglary, theft and arson. How did you research that?

The Silent Twins is based on the real-life story of Jennifer Gibbons and her twin sister June, above (Picture: PA)

We literally just dived into it. The research that we all did together, over the months, allowed the story to just stay in our bodies and stay in our souls. They really recreated Broadmoor and that institutional feeling of what Broadmoor is.

And walking on set, you literally felt those emotions that would run through you. You were 18 being put into a mental institution. So the scenes that we had to do together, they were heavy, they were hard, there were some days that we took it home.

Do you have siblings yourself? Did that help you prepare?

Yes, yes. I’m the eldest, though. I have little sisters and brothers.

Jennifer died in Bridgend, aged 29, but June is now 59. Did you meet her?

June lives a private life in the UK and we respect her for that. She’s been through a lot but she’s really happy. And we know that she’s in contact with those who have seen the film who are very close to her.

She’s so pleased that we’ve done it with integrity. So one day, we will get to meet her, but we respect her wishes [for privacy]. But I know that she does love the film. There’s beauty to that story.

Is the exposure you’ve gained through making Marvel films a great way to help smaller projects like this and your recent film Aisha get made?

Independent film-making is where Letitia’s heart is (Picture: Joe Scarnici/Getty Images)

That’s a great question. I love independent film-making. That’s where my heart is at. Theatre as well. For me, the Marvel universe is just an extension of playing a character that is inspiring and impactful, especially for a lot of black women.

We don’t see ourselves in these roles of playing scientists like Shuri. So playing a scientist alone in the Marvel universe is amazing.

But because I started my career doing theatre, independent film-making, that’s what I love. This [bigger, Marvel] platform has allowed me to gain more people watching my stuff, so it’s beautiful when all of those things come together – it’s a win-win situation.

You get to have impact in the big Marvel Cinematic Universe. But you also get to have impact in the arthouse cinema. Without that, maybe this would never have come to me. It all comes hand in hand.

How different is it making a small movie to a blockbuster?

The method is still the same. To wrap my head around it – the bigger-scale work is just work that is projected to a wider audience. More people are able to see it.

It’s shifted in that sense. But the hard work and the commitment still remain the same.

I don’t mind going back doing a little indie if that’s where the story takes me and that’s where the characters are that I want to play. Or a radio play… Wherever the good stories are, I’m going to go. Just to have these movies come out now and be really successful, it’s really cool.

The Silent Twins is now on Apple TV

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