Janeshia Adams-Ginyard

November 18, 2022December 27, 2022 Rachelle Henry 0 Comments

A real-life superhero, Janeshia Adams-Ginyard is making moves as an actress and Emmy nominated stunt performer. She is back in WAKANDA FOREVER in her role as the elite warrior Nomble. She has been seen in LOVECRAFT COUNTRY, STATION 19, ALL-AMERICAN, THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER and many others. Along with her acting and stunts, Janeisha is an accomplished athlete. Nothing is going to stop this marvel of an entertainer!

ILLUMINATE: Hello, lovely! Thank you so much for being here for Illuminate magazine.

ADAMS-GINYARD: Hey, thanks for having me.

ILLUMINATE: Yeah, of course. I’m so happy you’re here. You are on a roll right now. You are in the upcoming WAKANDA FOREVER movie, which I am so psyched about, because I love BLACK PANTHER. And there’s just so many exciting things coming along with that. I usually don’t ask questions about the red carpet outfits, but your outfit for the WAKANDA FOREVER premiere was amazing. You wore body paint. Can you tell me a little bit about your inspiration behind that? Because I remember you posting saying that you had thought about it for months.

ADAMS-GINYARD: Yes. So thank you for having me. This is awesome. Congratulations on your magazine.

ILLUMINATE: Thank you.

ADAMS-GINYARD: Yeah, the BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER premiere was absolutely insane. Now, I was thinking about it for months because I remember at the first BLACK PANTHER premiere, like, I killed the carpet, okay? Everyone was just blown away by my two piece. It was a collaboration with one of the ladies who worked on the movie. And that’s why it was so cool. And it was just like, Wow! You know, I incorporated my Jamaican culture with the colors. And then the theme was African royalty. So I mean, it just was like a perfect blend in and the world received it very well. So this time around, for the WAKANDA FOREVER premiere, I was thinking, “Okay, how can I outdo myself?”

ILLUMINATE: Right.

ADAMS-GINYARD: How can I outdo myself? How can I rep for the culture? How can I tribute, Chad? Like all of these things were going on in my head and I was like, “You’re going to have to wear no clothes. You’re going to have to take it back to the ancestors and how we celebrate.” Because at the end of the day, this is the celebration.

This movie was done in the midst of a global worldwide pandemic. You know, people were inside at work. We were isolated still. So we have to celebrate the completion of this film. We have to celebrate and honor my former castmate, Chad. So how can I do that? So I took it back. And I’m always thinking about the ancestors, actually, when I’m navigating life anyway.

ILLUMINATE: Right.

ADAMS-GINYARD: So I said, you know what? We celebrate a lot through paint, you know? Different ceremonies, different events. And I was like, this is the best way to do it. Not only will l outdo myself, but this is like the ultimate respected celebration. I can’t think of any other way to honor Chad, but through the body paint, right? So I’ve been thinking about it for months. I was going on a lot online referencing different tribal prints, African prints, African masks, and I was sending it to Jody Steel, who was the body paint artist behind the whole magic and collaboration that we did.

And I was constantly sending, and she was very, very open with me. It was like, “You can not send me enough. You cannot send me enough references.” So I’m constantly extending her themes. And I was like, “We got to have Chadwick on my back. He has to be on his all my back, just Chad.” and yeah, because at first I was like, maybe if I put him on the front line and she’s like, “Well, how do you pose? That’s going to distort his face. We don’t want any of that. We want it to be flawless, just a perfect tribute honoring celebration, all of that.” And so we were like, “No, the back is perfect!” And yeah, and I am just so happy and ecstatic with how everyone received it because it took about 5 to 6 hours.

ILLUMINATE: Wow.

ADAMS-GINYARD: Yeah, it was about 5 to 6 hours. I was cold in the process. I was shivering. Like my knees kind of went out on me a couple of times standing. Like, I do.

ILLUMINATE: I did wonder, “Was that a cold outfit to wear?”

ADAMS-GINYARD: Yeah, it was cold in the process. Between Jo, like airbrushing me, standing up and, you know, she was having to crack her back and arms a little bit. It was a six hour process. And I had my makeup done that day at 9:00 in the morning. You know, we’re talking about a premiere that didn’t start till 5:15. I didn’t hit the carpet till 6:00. I had makeup done at 9 a.m. So it was a long day. But I am just so happy with how everything turned out. And I think Chad would be proud. I think the ancestors are proud. I think everyone was just blown away and received it very well.

ILLUMINATE: You look stunning in it and it was just a jaw dropping moment. I think that it was so perfect for that premiere and I love that tribute to Chadwick Boseman. I loved that you brought out those cultural references. That’s something that I really loved about BLACK PANTHER. It’s a combination of different African cultures and it’s really showing black excellence. And I was so excited when I saw that I was like, that is just so beautiful.

ADAMS-GINYARD: Yeah. It was crazy because people didn’t know I had Chad on my back. I think they were also shocked by the way I revealed it because I had a lot of people come up to me and were like, “Oh, I thought that was just a skintight bodysuit. And then you did the reveal and I was like, Hold on, wait.” And then turned around and we were like, Oh, my God.” I think people were shocked with the reveal as well.

Because, I have to be honest. So there’s always themes, you know, for these different premieres. Like the first one I said in 2018 for BLACK PANTHER, it was African royalty. You know, I had the invite. But again, I was already thinking about what I would wear in advance before I even got the invitation, which is so funny. The alignment is real. And so fast forward. Same thing happened here. I didn’t even get the invite until a week before the premiere. Didn’t even get an invite. This is legit facts. So I had no idea what the theme was, but I had already been preparing months in advance how I want to honor Chad, how I want to celebrate.

So, I think that it was just the alignment, just all God did the sermon. And just knowing this is what I want to do. This is how I want to honor Chad and celebrate the finished product of this movie, not even knowing what the theme was. I just knew that that’s what I was going to do.

ILLUMINATE: So it’s so good. You’re playing this warrior in this film. By the way, the film comes out on November 11th.

ADAMS-GINYARD: Yes.

ILLUMINATE: So excited you are on the poster! Which is even cooler, because how many people can say “I’m on a Marvel movie poster!” Not very many people can say that.

ADAMS-GINYARD: Not at all. Yeah. I am in a very elite group of people. We need letterman jackets for that because….

ILLUMINATE: I’m on a Marvel poster!

ADAMS-GINYARD: Yeah, yeah. And a character name. Not just on the poster, but literally a character. It’s a huge blessing. It is a blessing. It is a dream come true. I feel like all my hard work has paid off. I said that in regards to the first movie, but I mean, elevation is real. I also think that if you literally just stay true to yourself, your morals, and stay adamant and persistent about your goals and what it is you want to do, I believe that it will happen. And I try to make sure that that’s part of my message.

When I tell people “You are destined for greatness and you can do whatever it is you want to do if you put your mind to it. Stay persistent. Stay adamant. And you don’t have to sacrifice your morals for anything you really don’t like. I have stayed true to myself and standing up for what’s right, speaking out. You can be successful in this industry and still have some integrity.

ILLUMINATE: I agree completely on that. And we actually met at the Health4Peace charity fundraiser. I had no idea that you were in the BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA World at all right then. But that positivity and that mindset that you carried through, that was something that really drew me to talking to you when we were at the event. It was just such a wonderful thing to be a part of. And I know that you are a part of those kinds of events and that you do have your own entertainment company that is a lot about faith-based content and positivity and inspiring others. We’ll talk a little bit more about that in a moment, but that’s just so exciting.

It’s interesting because you’ve actually played more than one role in the MCU.

ADAMS-GINYARD: Yes.

ILLUMINATE: Can you talk a little bit about that? And were you a Marvel fan before you got roped into this world?

ADAMS-GINYARD: Okay, great question. First, I want to take it back a little bit to how we met. I just thought you are a ray of sunshine when we first met. I was like, “Oh, my God.” And we were wearing blue. And we had the whole sequin theme going on. From the time I would say “Hi” to you, you were just awesome.

ILLUMINATE: Well, thank you!

ADAMS-GINYARD: So, like, fast forward here you are interviewing me. It’s crazy. So you never say know….

ILLUMINATE: Blue sequin dress.

ADAMS-GINYARD: Yeah.

ILLUMINATE: Blue sequin dress friends!

ADAMS-GINYARD: We were united by the blue sequin dresses. You’re awesome, so awesome.

ILLUMINATE: Thank you.

ADAMS-GINYARD: So, it’s funny. I always have to say this. And I have to remind people. I started off in the industry acting. That’s when I started off. I have a background in athletics. I competed in track and field at UC Berkeley. GO BEARS! PAC 10. And then I did bobsledding on the U.S. National Bobsled Team. So, from there, I kind of transitioned into doing sports modeling. I did so many Nike campaigns. It’s like unheard of. But from there I started doing acting and I was always like the jock or the athlete on the show or the commercial. So, I like to tell people, I started in this industry acting first and then transitioned into stunts later because of my athletic background. I took up gymnastics and all that basic tumbling.

So fast forward into Marvel. I was doing a lot of acting and then stunt roles started coming my way, doubling. I think one of the earliest stunt doubling roles I had was on TRUE BLOOD. I think that was one of the first. I think I did JUSTIFIED before that, but definitely was TRUE BLOOD. And then that kind of started the whole domino effect of me doing these doubling jobs.

And Marvel, right? So, Marvel was on my vision board. I can’t say I was a super, super, super hardcore Marvel nerd girl. Geek girl. I’m not going to sit up in here and lie and say that, but I definitely knew who Marvel was. And I had them on my vision board because I always want to do action stuff. I would always reference myself to Angelina Jolie, how she’s an action super star and she would do acting and action. So Marvel was on my vision board for that because I want to be an action superhero, super star. And I loved Iron Man. I thought Iron Man was amazing!

ILLUMINATE: Incredible.

ADAMS-GINYARD: Who didn’t like Iron Man? Armor like that is legit. One of the best superhero action movies out there. So BLACK PANTHER comes out. BLACK PANTHER pops on the scene. I didn’t really know of the character….BLACK PANTHER. I didn’t know, but I got an audition notification and it said “Untitled Marvel Project.” At that point in time, around 2016, 2017, you’re like, hold on. You start doing research and then someone in the industry, a fellow stunt performer, was like, “That’s BLACK PANTHER. You better be ready. That’s BLACK PANTHER. They’re going to need warrior women. You get ready.”

That little birdie told me, “Hey, get your martial arts skills up.”

ILLUMINATE: Get ready!

ADAMS-GINYARD: Yeah. They’re going to be needing people like you. So I took up immediately Taekwondo . I already had my wrestling background and stuff like that. Took the Taekwondo, freshened up on some stuff and the notification was actually for acting first. It was a notification for acting through Sarah Finn for “Untitled Marvel Project.” And then after I did that in the audition, I kid you not, I had to demonstrate some kicks and stuff. So I went back to my Taekwondo days and did sidekick roundhouse in the audition.

And then weeks later, I got contacted through the stunt side and then that was a whole other three, four weeks of okay, you had one audition. Then you’re invited to Atlanta to audition in front of everyone at Marvel. Ryan (Coogler) was there, Nate Moore, I mean, the whole shebang, you know, and they put you through a whole process. And then it was the whole waiting period of like, okay, when they contact you and they’re telling you at some point, this role will require short hair. They never, ever, officially said, “your complete head is shaved.” Once you made it to the end of the finish line, it was like, “Hey, so…”

ILLUMINATE: By the way,,,,

ADAMS-GINYARD: “We’re going to have to shave your head.” Because the whole time leading up to it was like, “You got to have short or short hair.” And I’m thinking, “Oh yeah, I got wigs,” and I’m sending them pictures of wigs. I’m like, “Oh yeah, here’s when I was short haired and doubling this actress. And I’m short hair doubling this actress” and they’re like, “Yeah, you know, no, no. I think they want to do it. I think they want to shave your head. That’s kind of how that started. And then, after I successfully became a Dora (Milaje) and was in Atlanta and training, that’s when they were like, “Hey, you know, you can be the Okoye double.” I had no idea. So I was the Okoye stunt double. And then when I wasn’t the Okoye double, I would be myself, the character who’s now known as Nomble. But at the time, I would just be identified with the tattoo over the right side of my face. I was just going back and forth…head tattoo, face tattoo. Head tattoo, face tattoo. We just were switching off tattoos every.

ILLUMINATE: You were switching off tattoos every week.

ADAMS-GINYARD: Yeah, switching off tattoos. But you know, it was quite the process, but it was very rewarding. There I am shooting in February of 2017 and then they tell you, “Hey, by the way, you’re going to go over to AVENGERS” and you’re like, “Really? Okay, well, look, I’m here for the ride. Let’s go.”

ILLUMINATE: It’s so interesting. I love the fact that you were brought in for multiple Marvel projects. It’s not just one. It’s a number of them. And it is switching off between those roles of the acting and stunts. Was it tricky preparing to have to switch off so many times or because both of them did involve some physicality and stunts, was it easy just to go back and forth?

ADAMS-GINYARD: You know, I would say because the characters are very much similar as far as the weapons that they use, like we were using spears, it pretty much was flawless and easy. The most challenging would be, I guess, the tattoo. There was different wardrobe, right? The General was basically in gold and all of that had tassels on her skirt.

And then for the Dora Milaje, we wore silver accents. But pretty much as far as the fighting and stuff, that was pretty much the same. Because we were using spears, same tactics, same maneuvers, just that when I would double for Danai (Gurira), I was basically more a continuation of the character and the movements that she kind of already established. Because we all had the same training as far as like bo-staff. And at the end of the day, we technically were the same team.

ILLUMINATE: Right. They would be in similar motion, which is correct.

ADAMS-GINYARD: For sure. So, you use those same tactics and you go over to AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR, AVENGERS: ENDGAME. Pretty much where I did double because even when I doubled on WANDAVISION, I was just strictly the double. So it was no going back and forth. And that was cool.

ILLUMINATE: Wow. Oh, it’s so cool to hear. I don’t often get to talk to people that have worked with Marvel, let alone in multiple capacities. Then multiple projects. So it’s interesting to hear that.

ADAMS-GINYARD: Yeah. It’s like “What really are you doing now? You’re going over here. You doing that?” It is exciting when you think about it. Sometimes I’ve got to take a step back and like, “Wait, did I just, did I just do a dive roll and be as the Monica Rambeau double? You had to sit there and take a look back and like, “Am I in this outfit? In this costume?”

ILLUMINATE: You’re like, “I’m this person for this moment?”

ADAMS-GINYARD: It’s a huge blessing. It definitely is a huge blessing. Definitely a huge blessing for sure.

ILLUMINATE: Another blessing is that you were nominated for Outstanding Stunt Performance at the Primetime Emmys for LOVECRAFT COUNTRY. It blows my mind that this is even a new category because I think that the stunt performers deserve so much recognition for everything they do.

ADAMS-GINYARD: We do.

ILLUMINATE: You really do. Do you think that more awards ceremonies are going to start recognizing stunt work?

ADAMS-GINYARD: I think that the different awards ceremonies are going to get tired of hearing people ask for it and then they’re just going to have to give in. But, you know, shout out to the Emmys for being the first to do that. When I tell you I was actually on set of WAKANDA FOREVER when that happened. I had no idea my phone was going off like crazy. I was sitting in costume, makeup on, and my phone was buzzing like we’re in our holding pit. And I’m like, “What’s going on?” Everyone’s saying to me, “Congratulations! Oh, my God. That’s so awesome!” I had to like, “What are they talking about?” Like I had no idea. And so I messaged a friend. I’m like, “Hey, thank you for your salutations and your warm wishes, but what is this for?” And they’re like, “No, you were nominated for an Emmy!” And I’m like, “Whoa.” So in my head when they said Emmy nomination in LOVECRAFT COUNTRY, I just thought it was like this way that the SAG Awards do it and it’s like a team, you know? Hey, the team. But no, I went down and I was like, Let me go to Google. So I Googled and I went to all the categories. This was the first time the Emmys recognized individual stunt performers! I couldn’t believe it. I was jaw dropped for about 10 minutes, and I was like, “No, they’re actually saying congratulations to me individually.” I was the only female to be nominated individually. Not with a group, and not with a team and it was for LOVECRAFT and I was jaw dropped. And I have to give credit to my friend Lucretia, because when LOVECRAFT came out, she literally said to me, “You should get nominated for something for that.” She said it to me. She was like, “This show is awesome!” And I was like, “Oh, cool, you know. Ok, great. Whatever. And then fast forward, this whole Emmy thing happened. I was like, “Wow, you called it. My friend definitely called it.

ILLUMINATE: That’s amazing.

ADAMS-GINYARD: Yeah, it’s a great day! It’s one of my favorite projects that I’ve worked on, LOVECRAFT. I worked on it, it’s now like almost a tie between the most amount of projects I worked with a single organization like either HBO or Marvel. It’s kind of like up there.

ILLUMINATE: I’m so happy that the Emmys did recognize your work and the fact that you were the only female.

ADAMS-GINYARD: Yeah, all by myself. But I’m so all like myself. Like there were females that were recognized, but they were like in a group, you know, on a team. But it was just me by myself. I was just like, “Wow, this is just crazy.” And shout out to Aunjanue Ellis. She is amazing. She killed that role of Hippolyta and I just came in and it was just an extension of that.

ILLUMINATE: That’s just amazing. And I’m so proud of you.

ADAMS-GINYARD: Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, that was awesome. It was amazing.

ILLUMINATE: You have over 50 credits in stunt performing. You’ve been in projects like GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS, US, FEAR THE WALKING DEAD, AMERICAN HORROR STORIES. There’s so many projects. What would you say is your process for preparing for these really physically demanding roles? I know that each role is going to have different stunts, different things that they require, but do you have an overall process or regimen that prepares you for those types of roles? And do you have any favorite kind of stunts that you like to perform the most?

ADAMS-GINYARD: Okay, great question. So, I am very big into keto and so I prepare for each role, especially like I said, the active physicality because it’s so physical and active. And a lot of times I’m told what I’ll have to do on a project and then sometimes I’m not. I’m hired and I’m expected to have all the expected abilities and just perform, whether it’s wire work or whether it’s fighting ground and pound. Even some small driving. So sometimes I’m told, “Hey, you’re going to be blasted down the hallway. Prepare.” Other times it is like “Hey, bring all your gear.”

ILLUMINATE: Do all for the unexpected.

ADAMS-GINYARD: Give me one hell of a ride. But for me, I do a lot of body weight stuff before I even leave to go to a show. I’ll prepare. So I’ll do a lot of body weight. I’ll intensify my Taekwondo. Work on my kicks, my stretching, and then go strict Keto. I’m very big in Keto. It’s my Keto lifestyle. I like to do circuits. I like a lot of circuits.

ILLUMINATE: And do you have a favorite kind of stunt that you like performing the most?

ADAMS-GINYARD: Oh, yes. I love doing ground and pound where I’m like ground and pound or where I’m being rolled against stuff because, and I think that’s the wrestler in me, being thrown against the ropes or like in a suplex and getting hip tossed. Things like that. So if it’s a good ground and pound, being dragged down a hallway, lifted and tossed into a wall, I’m here for it. I’m here for all of that. I’m always the one getting beat up like I’m not even kidding. Any type of battle, I’m always getting my butt handed to me. But I played a homeless woman on a project where I was being doubled and they drag this lady down the sidewalk, down the street, and threw her up against the wire gates. But I was here for it.

ILLUMINATE: On the flip side of that, are there any kind of stunts you have not yet performed that you’d like to? Are there any that you are scared to try or don’t like as much?

ADAMS-GINYARD: Okay, so I can answer the latter for you right now. So I do not consider myself a daredevil. I’m a trained professional who is not afraid to say no. With that being said, I do not do any motorcycle stunts. I am not interested. I will not try to. I said that because I entered the stunt industry. I was offered many times from several different people. “Hey, I’ll teach you how to ride a motorcycle.” I’m like, “No. No, thank you. Not interested.” “You’ll make good money.” I’m like, “Yeah, but I actually like my life.” So it’s not about money. I want to breathe. I want to go to sleep at night and wake up. So, yeah, I do not do any motorcycle stunts and I do not do any falls over 30 feet. Those are my limits. There is nothing that anyone can do to persuade me to go higher or to reconsider.

ILLUMINATE: You have to take care of yourself. You are not only a person that has a life every single day, but if that’s how you make your living, you can’t have everything broken. You can’t break your neck. You can’t have all those injuries. You have to be ready to go. And you’re also an actor, which means you have to be ready on screen.

ADAMS-GINYARD: Exactly. So those are my limits. No motorcycles, no falls over 30 feet.

ILLUMINATE: I applaud you for sticking to your morals. Sticking to what you believe in. Standing up for yourself and you’re saying, “Hey, I’m a trained professional. That doesn’t mean that I don’t have any boundaries.”

You made history, and you mentioned a little bit about this, being a member of the first all Black bobsledding team for the U.S. How did you get involved in bobsledding? There’s so many different things. I’m like, “How did you get involved in that?” That’s so exciting! Let’s first dive into bobsledding and then we can work our way through the other things.

ADAMS-GINYARD: So when I was a freshman at Cal, I was talking to my strength and conditioning coach, who is now currently my best friend, Summer. She is like my BFF and so she is my strength and conditioning coach at the time at Cal. And I was telling her I always wanted to do bobsledding or speed skating.

I love the winter sports. And so I was talking to her about bobsledding and the next thing you know, she went online and saw that the U.S. was having a practice. I forget, like an open practice meet or something where people can come down and they’re testing. And so she left. She went and did it. She just skipped out. She went and did it. And the next thing you know, she was like, “Yeah, Lake Placid, you know, going through the bobsledding stuff.” I’m like, “Okay, great.” Obviously I couldn’t do it. I was a student, but she went and did it. And then fast forward, maybe three or four years later, because I had just graduated. I finished at Cal. She gets a call from one of them and they’re like “Jamia Jackson,” who was a driver for the U.S. at the time and she calls Summer and Summer’s like no, I can’t, I can’t do it, you know, I just had a kid and all this stuff, but I’m a perfect person and like she got me into it. And so Sarah calls me, puts me in contact with Jamia Jackson and then I’m still up north in the bay. And so I think, Jamia, it was at the U.S. practice facility. We have two practice facilities: Lake Placid, New York or the other one is in Utah.

What people don’t fully realize is that it’s not necessarily that you train to be a bobsledder. Bobsled is not from other athletic disciplines. And they tend to use a lot of multi-eventers or sprinters. And in college I was a heptathlete, which is a multi-eventer. And they use track people.

And I’m half Jamaican, like “Cool Runnings.” So it just made perfect sense, you know, Jamaican doing bobsled, like a match made in heaven. So yeah, the story wrote itself basically.

I was like, “Yeah, Summer’s taking me through the motions and what to do with the push” and telling me all these different things to give me a little bit of a background. I speak to Jamia. I’m in the gym working on my Olympic weightlifting and stuff because you got to push this 500 pound sled. It hit those weights, cleans, jerks, all those different things. Next thing you know, I was flown out to Calgary. So that’s basically how it happened.

You know, I was a multi-eventer. I did Olympic weightlifting as part of my working out, cleans, jerks. Summer was my strength and conditioning coach at Cal. She put me through the workouts, but that’s literally how it happened.

ILLUMINATE: Wow, that’s amazing. Because when I saw that you’re in bobsledding, I thought, “Oh, my gosh. What can’t this girl do? She’s done everything.”

ADAMS-GINYARD: We became the first Black U.S. duo because I was the brakeman and Jamia Jackson was the driver. She is Black and we were riding in the black Verizon sled.

ILLUMINATE: That’s amazing. I love that.

ADAMS-GINYARD: Yeah and I think we placed. That was America’s Cup when I did it. I think we placed 6th in America’s Cup that year.

ILLUMINATE: Wow. Let’s talk a little bit more about your wrestling. How did you get involved in that? I read that you had your own radio show that focused on sports and athletics. You did mention that it did transition you into film. Do you feel like the disciplines that you learned from sports affected your mindset as a performer?

ADAMS-GINYARD: For sure. I think sports in athletics gives a great foundation for anything because of the discipline, because of the determination and the drive. You know, when you’re an athlete, you want to win. Every athlete I know wants to win. You know, I train hard. They work hard. The persistence and their training, and they’re determined. There’s a drive. It’s like that. It’s even tangible sometimes. What the athletes have is like, I want to win. And they are determined. So determined and focused. So I think that those are qualities that prove to be very helpful in the success in this industry because this is a roller coaster. It is up and down. You might be on set today, but you might not see another set until four months from now. Right? But does it mean that you stop training? Does it mean you stop going to classes? No. You have to just put in the work and trust and know that your win is going to come. And so I think it can be parallel with athletics and athletes because we can’t win them all, right? But you train to win.

I definitely think that the parallel between athletics and the discipline that you give being an athlete, right? Because there’s a routine you have. Hey, you got to practice. Go get your stuff. Make sure your uniform is clean. Okay. Go warm up. Warm up for 45 minutes. Okay. Go do your drills. Drills for 15 minutes. Okay, now you practice. Now you need to cool down so you have this schedule that you keep, but it’s all for the finished product, the win, right? The success, the triumph, the record breaking moment that you’re looking for. And I think that those qualities that you have being an athlete and the discipline that you have help so much in almost every area of life, but definitely in Hollywood. You’re going to need that discipline when your phone’s not ringing. When your agent’s saying, “Hey, you’re on avail. Oh, they went with someone else.”

You know what I mean? You need that morale booster. And I know a lot of athletes. They’re so motivated because, again, that’s that drive, and that hunger and that desire. I just think that it has helped me in this industry. It has been proven to be a great foundation for me because this is a roller coaster ride. I think there was maybe one year where I didn’t have a single gig. I didn’t realize that. I didn’t know I was still constantly training. I was still preparing. I was still like, “Hey, it’s coming, my win is coming. You know, I’m doing everything I’m supposed to do. I’m putting myself in the position. So when the phone rings, when the call comes, I’m ready, because the worst thing you can do is get a call and not be ready.

ILLUMINATE: Exactly.

ADAMS-GINYARD: Yeah. My mom said it’s better to be ready and not need it than to be needed and not ready.

ILLUMINATE: I love that.

ADAMS-GINYARD: Yeah. My mom said that.

ILLUMINATE: Go mom! That is so smart because there are so many times where you might not be prepared. You get the call and you know you don’t know what to do. I was supposed to work on a project this summer where I was supposed to be a trained swordswoman, and I found out in January and I started training all the way up until time. I ended up not being able to be in the project because they didn’t go union. But I trained in it two or three times a week for 3 hours per lesson. And my coach was really happy with me. He goes, “I’m going to make sure that you’re prepared for this because you’re putting in the effort.” And it’s interesting because I think actors sometimes think, “If I get cast in this, they’ll have someone double for me.”

ADAMS-GINYARD: Yeah.

ILLUMINATE: But things like stunts, sword work, dialects, all those things, they don’t just come naturally. Even if you have athletic ability, you still have to train for it.

ADAMS-GINYARD: Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. And this is great what you just said, because I didn’t know I was going to get into stunts. I had no idea. I didn’t even know a stunt person. I had no idea what stunts were, you know what I mean? But I was a track and field athlete who had an Olympic weightlifting background, you know, from my strength conditioning. And I did hurdles. I did heptathlon. So I know how to throw. I know how to jump. I did spear. And then fast forward, I’m doing commercials where I have to run. I’m doing stunt work where I have to run. I have to jump over things. So all of that is like foundational stuff. Basic foundation and it came from my athletics being able to move and get out of the way. So then when I’m training on basic tumbling, on how to land properly and how to do rolls, I’m a little bit ahead of the game because I know how to move my body. But heck, I still have to train. Even though I did have a little bit of a track background and knew how to run, throw and jump. Like you said, you still have to get the training involved. Still have to get the mechanics and all the other things down for these other technical, disciplines.

ILLUMINATE: Exactly. And you never know all those skills you’ve learned over the years. You never know when you’re going to need to tap into those again.

ADAMS-GINYARD: Absolutely. It is so true. Let me tell you. Every time I threw a spear, I was like, “Oh, this is your javelin. This is javelin coming back into play.” Yeah, every time. Oh, my goodness. “Yeah, this is a javelin.” Okay. Yeah. Yeah. And I didn’t hit anybody. Yeah. Working out your target.

ILLUMINATE: I think that is something that’s also funny about like if you trained in a certain skill and then you have to apply it for film like running. There’s been so many times because I used to do five K runs and there was so many times where I’d have to run for something and they’d be like, “Okay, we know that you can run. Can you slow down?” Then you just run at this uncomfortable gait. I still am faster than what they’re wanting. But you know….

ADAMS_GINYARD: Exactly. You’d be surprised how many people can’t run. One of the ways that I got into stunts after doing the whole acting thing is that I was watching a movie and they had a lot of stunt credits at the end of it. But in the movie, this guy was running horribly. He was running like….I wish I could demonstrate. Just know that he was running same arm, same leg. And I’m just like, how do you do that? How does that happen? It was that. It really was like the spark of like, “Yo, I could do stunts. I know how to run. Like this guy’s running same arm, same leg. That’s not how you run. Opposite arm, opposite leg, you know. This is, like, crazy that that made film and there’s all these stunt credits at the back. Yeah, that was kind of one of the early “ding, ding, ding. You can do stunts.”

ILLUMINATE: Another thing that I really adore about you is that you have your degree in linguistics, a minor in African studies with a focus in Caribbean culture. And we talked about how the world of WAKANDA does represent different aspects of African culture. Did you tap into any of that for your role in the MCU?

ADAMS-GINYARD: No. (Laughing) Honestly, my degree and all that didn’t really play a part in any….Actually, I call Mulligan. Let me do that again. So as far as shooting BLACK PANTHER, I didn’t really think about any of my African- American studies degree or anything like that. I will say this. When I did the BLACK PANTHER Super Bowl commercial back in 2018, when I had to speak, I had to say, “Well done, My King,” that I went to my linguistics knowledge and background because we have a whole international phonetic alphabet with how there’s a symbol that represents the sound or how it is phonetically. So, I did do that. And then I also used that on THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER when I had a line where I was saying “Release him to us now.” So, I wrote that out and then I went into my linguistics book and then wrote it out with the IPA.

So first of all, great question. Great question. You know, no one has ever asked me that before. When you asked me, you really made me think about what I did. I did do that. Yeah. So I did that for when I had to do my line for THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER. I went to my IPA, my International Phonetic Alphabet for Linguistics, and kind of did it that way. And we did have a dialect coach, but I had already done my part, right, because we talked about doing the work and doing what we have to do to prepare.

I also spoke with one of my friend’s mom, who is Nigerian, and I went over what I wrote out with her. So yeah, I did. I did do that. But as far as thinking about the African, you know, because my minor is African American studies with emphasis in Caribbean culture, I don’t use any of that.

I didn’t use any of that for BLACK PANTHER, but I definitely used part of the linguistics and consulted with my IPA. So that’s a very good question. I’m always channeling ancestors. Every day thinking about what they went through, how I can honor them because I want to be someone’s ancestor, you know what I mean? So I do that.

ILLUMINATE: I was very curious about that, especially thinking about you studying African heritage and then having a role that is in a world that’s based so much around it. Is the WACONDA accent, which is beautiful to listen to….I love it…. is it mostly based on a Nigerian accent? What’s the base for it?

ADAMS-GINYARD: I was told it was a mixture of a couple different languages, but I don’t even know. I can’t remember. I don’t want to say the wrong language because I don’t know.

ILLUMINATE: Whatever it is, It is beautiful to listen to.

ADAMS-GINYARD: I definitely know it was a combination of things, I think Chad did research and combined a couple of different things. But I can’t remember. I just know what I heard and then how I tried to transcribe it.

ILLUMINATE: The cast does an amazing job and Chad was such an incredible actor. And I’m really glad that even though he has passed away, and he was one of my favorites in the MCU, but even though he is now gone, WAKANDA is still carrying on his legacy. I’m very excited to see how that plays out.

ADAMS-GINYARD: I think everyone will be very happy with how he’s honored. In the trailer they showed a picture of him and I saw the comments on the different videos and YouTubes.I think everyone will be very happy with it because at the end of the day, I mean, we lost a huge light. He was just so…. He was such the foundation of everything, I feel like because being on set with him, he was very much a family person, meaning we’ve all been on sets where we can be like, Oh, that’s this is an elitist. They don’t want to talk to you because you’re not on their level and all these things, right? We see those dynamics all the time. We’re on set. It’s just this is what it is. He was not like that. That he would throw parties and it would invite everybody. It didn’t matter if you the janitor. It didn’t matter if you were the grips or lighting or cast or whatever, he invited everybody and this amazing, amazing. Because still today, of all the sets I’ve been on, I have not seen anyone do it like that.

ILLUMINATE: Wow.

ADAMS-GINYARD: You know what I mean? Like, just make sure that everyone is together and family. He was such an awesome being. He made sure we had drums to create that environment and the WAKANDA culture and feel. And yeah. He was awesome. And I have met a person who will make sure that everyone is involved, whether you’re at this point on the contact cast/crew list or high.

ILLUMINATE: He sounds like he was an absolute treasure. And I think that’s one of the reasons why people love BLACK PANTHER is having that light, you know, having that person. And, you know, every interview I ever saw of him, he just seemed like such an illuminating and wonderful, kind person. So I’m really glad that you did get the opportunity to work with him.

ADAMS-GINYARD: Me too!

ILLUMINATE: And then now you’re in this film that is about his character’s legacy and really does tribute him. I’m very excited to see the film.

Are there any other upcoming projects and also, anything with your own entertainment company? We talked a tiny bit about that. Are there any projects that you’re in that are going to be coming out soon along with WAKANDA FOREVER? And are you in the process of making anything?

ADAMS-GINYARD: Yeah. Okay. So awesome. I’ll talk about my company first and then I’ll go into the WAKANDA thing. So thank you for mentioning that. Yes, I have a company called Hyphy 4 Christ. Hyphy combines the words hyper and happy means to be overly excited and energetic so Hyphy 4 Christ. We inspire, encourage and motivate through faith-based content. So before the pandemic, we had a play that was on tour. We had two plays that were going on tour and then I’m starting back another play. I’ve been writing it. It hasn’t been done yet, so we’ll have that play. It’ll be a third play in rotation and we’ll start getting that back up. And then we put on comedy shows that are faith-based. So awesome.

There was a huge event we had planned. Again, it was for Juneteenth, but it got canceled due to the pandemic. I’m in Riverside County, out in the Palm Springs area, so I was going to be out there. But we’re working on getting that back together and getting it back on the calendar because it was really, really good.

As far as BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER, November 11. Check me out. I’m Nomble. And then what’s coming up for me in the future, I have a Christmas movie called LETTERS AT CHRISTMAS that comes out December 1st and I played the lead actress. This is the first movie where I am the lead actress, opposite Dean Cain, which I love. It’s awesome. It’ll be like Superman and Nomble. It’s kind of like that DC Marvel crossover that the world’s been waiting for.

And then I’m also working on a short film called 9 MINUTES ON THE PITCH and it’s super funny. And it’s starring Kelly Perine, who is a super amazingly funny guy who’s been in everything from like Nickelodeon, all these different shows. And then Danny Arroyo, same thing, has a very accredited resume of acting and directing, so I’m really happy and that’s gonna be really funny.

ILLUMINATE: Oh, I’m so excited. And I love the title.

ADAMS-GINYARD: Oh, and I have a horror movie where I’m the lead. I start shooting next year in June. Totally almost forgot about that. Oh, my God. Yes.

ILLUMINATE: You are on a roll, sister! It’s crazy! You’re doing amazing.

ADAMS-GINYARD: Thank you. I think it’s a huge blessing. And look, I give God all the credit. I’ll take the compliment, but it’s because of Him, seriously. And I think all of this started with me just being obedient and shaving my head. At the end of the day, when think back, it’s like me being obedient and saving my head and these things have happened and constantly staying true to myself, my morals, working hard and keeping integrity.

ILLUMINATE: I adore that. I am so proud of you and everything you’re doing. You’re a wonder woman for sure.

ADAMS-GINYARD: Oh, thank you!

ILLUMINATE: Where can people find you on social media?

ADAMS-GINYARD: Okay, you guys can find me @hollywoodladyj on Instagram and Twitter. And then on Facebook, you can find me under Janeshia Adams-Ginyard….my full name.

ILLUMINATE: Well, thank you so much for being here. I absolutely loved having you on the show and I’m so proud of everything you’re doing. I cannot wait to see WAKANDA FOREVER and see the amazing warrior you are.

ADAMS-GINYARD: Yeah, you’re going to love it. WAKANDA FOREVER. Everyone’s going to love it. November 11th! WAKANDA FOREVER.

ILLUMINATE: Have an amazing day.

ADAMS-GINYARD: You, too. Thank you.

ILLUMINATE: Bye.