Tessa Thompson spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about Bianca’s development in “Creed III,” especially with her adapting to an entirely new world after relocating to Los Angeles. “She’s been in L.A. for a long while, and I think she has matured,” Thompson explained. Changing her vocabulary, and eliminating certain colloquialisms, was Thompson’s way of establishing that maturity. Removing the word “jawn” was an “intentional” change on the actor’s part:
“I said to them, ‘I’m not saying jawn in this movie because we’ve heard it, we’ve done it. I want to break new territory.’ […] She hasn’t changed fundamentally, but there are things about her where she has grown into a fuller expression of who she is. So there’s no jawns, but who knows, a jawn could always come back around.”
Thompson also pointed out other manifestations of that change in Bianca, notably with the tattoos she’s sported since the first “Creed” film:
“Bianca is the only character where I have worn tattoos. I now have 12; I had less when we made the first one. And near my right wrist, I have a tattoo that says yes, which I wore in the first film, and it became a thing. The first thing you see when Donnie enters her apartment is a ‘yes’ that she has on her wall, and it was a whole thematic thing that Ryan [Coogler] and I talked a lot about. In the second film, she changed that tattoo to ‘yesterday’ because there was this idea that her feelings had changed.”
The “Creed” films have always been thoughtful about the way their characters are portrayed. It’s nice to see that continue with the third, and in subtle ways that aren’t as easy to spot.
“Creed III” is now playing in theaters.