Trainer Gabriela Mclain on Getting “The Woman King” Cast into Fighting Shape

Talk about reading the room: actress-producer Maria Bello pitched The Woman King directly to Viola Davis in 2015 while standing at the podium to present her with a Women Making History Award. Davis immediately embraced the fact-based story about General Nanisca, who, in the 1820s, led an army of fierce 19th-century women warriors from the West African kingdom of Dahomey (now Benin). On September 16, The Woman King opened with Davis in the title role alongside co-stars Thuso Mbedu,