When “ Black Panther” fans first started calling Letitia Wright a Disney princess, the actress admits she was confused: Would her character, Shuri, the teen genius princess of Wakanda, actually qualify for the title? In a conversation with Yahoo Entertainment, the “Avengers: Infinity War” star said that she soon embraced the label, thanks to the fans who “owned it and celebrated it.”
“I was like, OK, that’s it. I’m a Disney princess,” said Wright. (Watch the video above.)
Not that she was entirely unaware of her connection to Disney’s classic heroines. Back in February, one Twitter user noticed that two of Shuri’s “Black Panther″ hairstyles were very similar to those worn by Princess Leia in the original “Star Wars.” Wright told Yahoo Entertainment that at least one of those homages was entirely intentional. One day on set, Wright’s hairstylist was playing with putting her hair in buns when director Ryan Coogler walked in and remarked, “Hey, you look like Princess Leia! You gonna wear that?” Wright played coy, but says she “turned up on set with my Princess Leia buns — and he loved it.”
“Avengers: Infinity War” opens in theaters on Friday.
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