15 Things You Didn't Know About M'Baku Before He Was Cast In Black Panther
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It’s Challenge Day! They’re the first words that come out of M’Baku’s mouth as he arises from the mountains to intimidate Prince T’Challa. It almost seems as if they are Winston Duke’s (the actor who played M’Baku) own words. Starring in a Marvel blockbuster can seem overwhelming for any actor, perhaps even more so for an actor who only graduated school a few years ago. Yet, even with the pressure of bringing to life a highly anticipated film, Winston proved that he could handle the challenge. The scene leaves an immediate impression as the two warriors wrestle along the edges of a waterfall. M’Baku isn’t the victor of the fight and the prideful leader of the Jabari tribe retreats back into the mountains. Yet, when he emerges a few scenes later, he has evolved from a wounded warrior to a multi-dimensional leader with wisdom and wit that manages to steal a few scenes. So, just who is the actor behind the Jabari leader that has struck such a strong impression his first time around that he will reprise the role for ‘Avengers Infinity War’?
Do a little research and you’ll find that Winston Duke is a 31-year old actor from Brooklyn. And, despite being relatively new to Hollywood, he’s already making waves after his turn co-starring in the record-breaking film, ‘The Black Panther’. “I knew I deserved to be there… It all felt right and it was a deeply supportive space,” Winston described the filming experience to ‘GQ’. The well-known men’s magazine seems to have noticed Winston’s star power and sat down with the actor to talk about the film and his goals as an actor. “I want to watch the world watch the film. It’s opened up such great discussions. It’s challenge day, you know. Today is a new day.” Check more facts about this actor and other things he has to say about ‘Black Panther.
He’s Almost 7 Feet Tall
It wasn’t CGI that made the character M’Baku look like he was towering over everyone. He literally was. Standing at 6’4 or 6’7 depending on some sources, Winston Duke is just a few inches shy of being seven feet tall. Chadwick Boseman, a.k.a The Black Panther is six-feet tall as is Michael B. Jordan who played the supervillain Erik Killmonger.
His height definitely helped him land the role as the fierce leader of the Jabari tribe.
He doesn’t have to be in costume to strike fear into men. He simply has to stand next to them. While we think that Duke looked born to play the part of the Jabari leader, we wonder if he also could have pursued a career as a basketball player. He’d fit in playing side-by-side with Shaquille O’Neal who is seven feet tall.
He Was Born In Argyle, Tobago
Winston wasn’t born in America. He was born in the Caribbean and relocated to the US when he was still just a kid. Pay attention and you can hear a hint of his Caribbean accent.
He was born in Argyle, Tobago on November 15, 1986. The small village is known for its hiking and waterfalls that attract locals and foreigners.
Although, as an island in the middle of the Caribbean, Tobago also has a lot of beach destinations that attract tourists. That basically makes Winston an island boy until he was nine years old. In 1995 his family moved to Brooklyn, New York. The move was a sacrifice that his mother made to help her daughter achieve her dream of becoming a doctor. She did achieve that dream by the way.
Where His Mom Was A Government Official
The move to Brooklyn was a big change for his family and probably hardest on his mother. She was a single parent who supported her two children with her job as a government official and from her restaurant. Yet, she gave up her financial security and career so her children could pursue careers that weren’t available on the island.
“She sold her restaurant, and home, and everything we owned. My father was not in the picture… She was a single parent,”
Duke spoke to ‘Entertainment Weekly’ about the change. “My mother did a lot of odd jobs just to keep us afloat.” Yet, his mother believed in her children, even moving again to Rochester when they went to college. We can only imagine how proud she is of her children today.
As A Child He Was An Introvert
It’s interesting to read just how many actresses or entertainers consider themselves introverts who magically come alive on stage. It’s something that Beyonce, Marilyn Monroe, and Winston Duke all have in common.
Growing up in Brooklyn, Winston was a shy kid who spent a lot of time by himself at a comic-book store called Winston’s.
He had no interest in drama until one of his Spanish teachers noticed that he ‘came alive’ during his presentations. She signed him up for the theatre club and the rest was history. The nine-year-old saw an episode of ‘Fraiser’ from Season 8 ‘The Show Must Go Off’. The scene where actor Derek Jacobi parodies Hamlet gave the young Winston the burning desire to be an actor. He later went to the University of Buffalo to pursue that dream as a drama major.
He Went To Yale
After getting his bachelors from Buffalo, Winston went to the Yale School of Drama. The prestigious school has seen many of its alumni go on to have illustrious careers. Paul Newman, Meryl Streep, Sigourney Weaver, and Lupita Nyong’o are just a few of the actors that have been praised for their talents on the big screen. His mom was just as supportive as his dream when he was at Yale.
“She didn’t miss one play, not one student production. She was at every single thing over three years. She came to everything; she’s always been my No. 1 fan,”
So clearly, he is more than happy with the mother life has given him. Her support and his hard work paid off. Several years later Winston has a career that has begun with one of the highest grossing films of all time.
And, Became BFFs With Lupita Nyong’o
At Yale, Winston met fellow ‘Black Panther’ actress Lupita Nyong’o. Both seem to have that magic star power as it wasn’t long before they landed roles. Lupita nabbed the role of Patsey in ’12 Years A Slave’ a few months after graduating. Winston was working the circuit with guest spots on ‘Modern Family’ and ‘Law and Order’.
In fact, Lupita was known as a hardworking student with raw talent.
She had so much talent, that despite her fairly empty theatre resume she beat out 950 applicants to join an exclusive class. “She worked from a completely truthful base. She was fascinating to watch. That is an unteachable thing, that I just want to keep watching you and keep watching you,” Ron Van Lieu, the Chari of the Acting Program said of Lupita.
He Saw ‘The Avengers’ With Lupita
It was just in 2012 that the two Yale students were going to see the first ‘Avengers’ together. Guess who their favorite character was?
“We were both enamoured with The Hulk. We were like Arrgh! Every time the Hulk got on the screen and we had moments of ‘Do you think we’ll ever be in something like this?"
He went on to say, "That was before ’12 Years a Slave’. Before anything. We were both just students dreaming. Whats the future going to be like?” Their future turned out that six years later the two would co-star in a Marvel film that would go on to gross more than the ‘Avengers’. “Yeah, I don’t know if that’s ever going to happen,” was the sentiment that they had at the time. Turns out, anything can happen.
He Auditioned Four Times For Black Panther
Just because you go to Yale doesn’t mean that getting a job will be a piece of cake. Winston had to audition four times for the role. Over the course of three months, the young actor was called back to read for the role again and again.
“He took me in every direction known to man with the character,” He told ‘Vanity Fair’ about his experience auditioning with filmmaker Ryan Coogler.
It was a nerve wrecking experience. Winston noticed that Coogler paid more attention to how Winston moved, noticing ‘the patterns and the musicality’ more than anything else. Coogler probably knew that at 6’5, Winston could hit the weights, got to makeup and look like a Jabari man. Yet, sounding like a Jabari would be a harder skill to master.
It’s His First Movie Role
Winston had to pay his dues before he could act side by side major actors in ‘Black Panther’. He moved to Los Angeles in 2016 to pursue his career. For him, it was months of auditions and callbacks before he landed the audition that would change his life forever.
It was also a role that not only put him with Lupita Nyong’o, a fellow Yale alum, but also Angela Bassett.
The prolific actress graduated from the prestigious drama school years before Winston and he made sure to thank her for her legacy at the cast’s first dinner. Once introductions were over, Winston immersed himself in the role, talking with screenwriter Joe Robert Cole and referring to comics to add authenticity to his role.
But, He’s Been On Law & Order, and Modern Family
Winston had to put in a lot of hard work to pull off co-starring in a big commercial blockbuster. There really wasn’t one second where you thought that he was a novice to the big screen. Yet, he was. Winston had never been in a movie before. And, it was only a few years ago that he was a student at Yale.
After he made the move to Los Angeles he did land a recurring role on ‘Person of Interest’.
He also had a role on other shows such as ‘Modern Family’ and ‘The Messengers’. Even so, he still has a pretty light acting resume. That won’t last for long. Critics and fans alike praised his version of M’Baku. His months of preparation paid off. Winston will reprise his role as M’Baku in Avengers: Infinity War.
He Bulked Up To 250lbs To Play M’Baku
Winston had 2 months to change his body and turn his 6’5 frame into a fierce 250 lbs slab of muscle. As someone who is naturally athletic, Winston was in shape prior to his role. Although, he wanted to truly embody the fierce Jabari leader.
So, he worked out with a trainer to ensure that leg day would not be missed. Winston hit the gym six days per week to lift weights.
Each day focused on a different body part of the body, except for leg day, which was the focus two days out of the week. Yet, Winston didn’t want to look like the cover of a muscle magazine. He wanted his character to look strong and slightly natural. “Our goal to specifically create a guy who’s big and strong,” Winston said of his character.
His Fav Sport Is Rock Climbing
As we previously mentioned, the well-built actor is naturally athletic. He was on the wrestling team in high school. He loves rock climbing. It’s his favorite sport and his Instagram is full of his climbs.
‘It’s all about the climb! Risky, but as long as you don’t look down or look back; it all becomes so much more possible,’ he wrote in one post where he shared a video of him doing an indoor climb.
Although, we’re sure that Winston didn’t have as much time to dedicate to climbing as he wanted to. To prep for his role, he didn’t just hit the gym for intense workouts. He also did fight training four days a week for 2-4 hours each day. It was all to prepare for tackling those stunts and fight scenes that we see in ‘The Black Panther’.
He Also Came Up With The Idea Of M’Baku Grunting
Winston didn’t just focus on the physical aspect of his character. He spent months on finding the ‘voice’ of the Jabari people. He worked on a Nigerian and Nigerian Ibo accent to develop a sound that was different than T’Challa’s which is a South African inspired accent.
He also came up with the idea to grunt at an outsider who speaks out of turn during one of his sessions with Coogler where they worked to develop the character.
It’s also interesting to know that Omega Psi Phi (a.k.a ‘Que Dogs’) black fraternity members are known for their loud barking sounds. We only wonder if when they saw the film whether or not they began grunting too. It was a moment in the film that showed that Winston can command a scene with both his presence and humor.
He Wants To Be A Bad Boy (He Wants To Star In Bad Boys Reboot)
When he did a ‘Deadline Podcast’, Winston said that he would like to star in a ‘Bad Boy’s reboot. He’d like to star alongside his ‘Black Panther’ co-star Daniel Kaluuya. In case you wondered where you saw Daniel recently, he was the star of last year’s ‘Get Out’. He nabbed a Best Actor nomination for his role.
Although, this is more than just a dream as Winston has already pitched the reboot to producers.
We’ll just have to wait and see what will happen next for the young star. Already, he has one blockbuster film under his belt and a role in ‘Avengers’ coming out next. He might be too busy to reprise a role made famous by Martin Lawrence and Will Smith. Although, never say never as Winston has already proven that he’s an actor of many talents.
He Wants Black Panther To Inspire Other Films
Winston was well aware that he was on the set of the film that will be inspiring for young boys and girls for years down the road.
“I would love more stories with strong characters of color who don’t always fit the mold that Hollywood has created in the past. I want more opportunities for us,” Winston told ‘Vanity Fair’.
Black Panther was a ground-breaking film, especially for the world it created of a flourishing African nation. It also gave us characters who all had a strong and independent voice. Even M’Baku, who started off as an antagonist, showed that there was more to him than you first thought. “Even being a part of a world like ‘Black Panther’ that is gonna be something that’s deeply commercial, it still is about a narrative of people who are unseen, unheard, and unrepresented, you know?”
Reference: VanityFair.com, People.com, EW.com, GQ.com
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