Our second digital cover for the month of July features actor Lyric Ross who stars as Natalie Washington in the new Marvel Cinematic Universe series, Ironheart on Disney+. The miniseries premiered on June 24 and is a sequel to the 2022 film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Set after the events of the film, Ironheart follows genius inventor Riri (Dominique Thorne) who returns to her hometown in Chicago in pursuit to create the best Ironheart Armor suit. We learn that Natalie was Riri’s childhood best friend who was tragically killed in a drive-by shooting. Natalie is ultimately “brought back to life” by Riri via artificial intelligence (AI). The series also stars Anthony Ramos, Alden Ehrenreich, Regan Aliyah, Manny Montana, Matthew Elam, and Anji White.
Lyric chats with us about how she prepared to portray Natalie, her audition process, and more.
Exclusive photos for Popternative Magazine by JJ Geiger
Stylist: Enrique Melendez
Hair: Randy Stodghill
Makeup: Hendra Nasril
Photo: JJ Geiger
How would you describe Natalie’s in Ironheart?
Lyric: A load of confidence. There’s a lot of fight in her. She’s one of those characters to not back down from a challenge with very little to no fear, if any fear at all.
How did you prepare to play her?
Lyric: Actually, one of my inspirations was some of the people around me that I grew up with. I have a lot of very confident, very smart, outgoing, and dramatic people in my family and close range with my friends. And they’re all great; they have so many colors to them, just like Natalie, and they’re pretty strong when it comes to not letting anybody tell you that you can’t do something. And that’s exactly what Natalie needed. I didn’t know how to bring that out myself, so there’s a little bit of imitation there.
Photo: JJ Geiger
What was the audition process for you like? Did you initially know it was for a Marvel project?
Lyric: I did know it was for a Marvel project but I didn’t know what Marvel project. I didn’t know the character or anything. They didn’t have much, but some sides which were not even a part of the project either. So, my job, I guess, at that point, was just to try it out. They wanted to see what I came up with, and that’s what I did.
What can you tell us about working with the cast for Ironheart?
Lyric: It was pretty awesome. I didn’t get to work with everybody, but you would see them around, or in the makeup and hair trailer, and we would have conversations here and there. They’re just a great group of humble and grounded people and you see a lot of that in this show; it’s a very raw style. It’s just a whole bunch of cool people. I really enjoyed them.
Are there any memories from set you will never forget?
Lyric: I did my first stunt so that was pretty fun, and I hope to do something like that again.
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All six episodes of Ironheart are streaming on Disney+.
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