Introducing Kayla Watts: How DeWanda Wise Created the ‘Jurassic World’ Version of Han Solo

variety.com:

Angelique Jackson On Monday night, “Jurassic World Dominion” DeWanda Wise posed outside the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, taking in the emotions around unveiling her brand-new character, pilot Kayla Watts, to a theater full of anxious fans.Asked what she’ll most remember about joining this nearly 30-year-old franchise, Wise told Variety, “Probably the fan love, especially tonight.”Clad in a shimmering Valentino gown, Wise shared the black carpet moment with her mother, brother, husband (fellow actor Alano Miller) and some of her lifelong friends. “My family’s here.

My friends from New York are here, it’s very special,” she noted. “These are my day one’s, my 20-pluses. My success is theirs.” The raucous red carpet experience stands in stark contrast to the day, five months earlier, as Wise patiently waited at home for the first photo of her character to hit the internet.It had already been a long road for the actor, a 20-year industry veteran, who had her big blockbuster break interrupted by the onset of the pandemic in March 2020, when production on “Jurassic World Dominion” shut down the Saturday before her Monday start date.“I saw the email and I literally just got on the plane and came home,” she shared, recounting her filming experience alongside her co-stars Laura Dern and Bryce Dallas Howard at their Variety cover shoot this March.Her first day back on set was in July 2020 to film that scene on the ice lake with Pratt.

Though Wise is a veteran actor, she admits: “I had my Kayla veneer, but DeWanda was terrified.”It was a tricky time to start a job you’d describe as “career-defining,” which is how Wise sees Kayla.