Marvel’s Black Panther premiered over the weekend, bringing with it critical acclaim, massive box office revenue, and cementing itself as a cultural touchstone; its predominantly black cast features butt-kicking women (who actually pass the Bechdel test) and introduces Western audiences to an afrofuturistic utopia.
Pace University graduate Nabiyah Be had another reason to be excited: the film marked the Brazilian actress’ feature film debut.
“Before I came to Pace, I knew that I had the potential to create, but I didn’t know exactly how to create on my own,” said Be in a video interview for the Pace School of Performing Arts. “I’m born and raised in Salvador, which is the capital of Bahia in Brazil, and they say that people in Bahia are not just born, they debut. Pace enabled that for me.”
Be appears in the film alongside Hollywood superstars like Chadwick Boseman (King T’Challa/Black Panther himself), Lupita Nyong’o, Michael B. Jordan, Angela Basset, and Forest Whitaker. And when we say, “appears alongside,” we really mean alongside.
That would be Be, waiting, casually blinking once as Michael B. Jordan’s Erik Killmonger (great villain name) blows up the wall of a fairly secure looking building. |
We’d tell you to catch Be in Black Panther in theaters, but with a $235 million opening weekend, you probably already have tickets, so we’ll just say “Enjoy!”