Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will introduce the world to Marvel Cinematic Universe’s take on Atlantis in the form of Talocan. The Mayan-inspired take on the iconic underwater civilization is a promising direction for the mythology built around the character of Namor, who will be portrayed by Tenoch Huerta. Given that they are a civilization that exists beneath the ocean’s surface, the actors portraying the Talocan people had to do some shots underwater.
During the official press conference for the film, the Namor actor revealed that he actually couldn’t swim before working on the film. The conversation came up when they started discussing who had the record of holding their breath the longest during filming, which led to the actor revealing he couldn’t swim before starting work on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. A surprising detail if you consider that he was going to tackle a role that would mostly see him underwater.
Yeah, well I didn’t know how to swim before this movie. But now I can hold my breath for five minutes.
Tenoch Huerta
He does reveal that the record of holding their breath underwater is held by Namora actress Mabel Cadena, who seemingly can hold it for up to eight minutes. It definitely sounds like they had an interesting challenge with the production and it’s always interesting to learn details, such as the fact that the actor learned to swim and stay underwater for extended periods just to star in this role. It showcases how much work truly goes into bringing these roles to life for the silver screen.
