- Tessa Thompson says she and Michael B. Jordan went to couples therapy as their "Creed III" personas.
- "The line sometimes between character and us get blurred," Thompson said.
Couples therapy can be beneficial for partners who want to strengthen their bond. But couples therapy for movie characters? That may be a first.
"Creed III" star Tessa Thompson revealed in a recent interview with Refinery29 that she and Michael B. Jordan went to couples therapy as their characters, Bianca and Adonis "Donnie" Creed, to prepare for the film.
"The line sometimes between character and us get blurred because we bring so much of what we're exploring personally to the characters in general," Thompson said. "So funnily, it was the first time ... I'm probably saying too much. I'll say it was an early experience in couples therapy for us both [personally], but it was as these characters, which is very weird."
Although Thompson and Jordan starred in the two previous "Creed" films together, the actor contended couples therapy can be useful, even when relationships are going well, to "just sharpen communication and figure out how someone works."
"Since we've been making these movies for eight, nine years, we've seen each other through various stages in our own romantic things," she said. "So we know stuff about each other's lives. We shared and talked about it. So therapy ended up starting at work and getting more personal."
"Also, it was a chance for us to really talk to a couples therapist and understand what are some of the things young parents who are trying to balance their own dreams and aspirations?" Thompson added. "What are the themes that you see? What are the things they might be up against? What might be their impediments to happiness or success as a couple? That was really fascinating also to hear from her and bring that into the stew."
Based on the film's performance at the domestic box office, all that preparation paid off. "Creed III," which also stars Jonathan Majors as Creed's rival, beat projections for its opening weekend, pulling in $58.6 million and making it the biggest sports film opening in history, according to MGM.