Tessa Thompson discusses preparation for 'Creed' role

PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- Tessa Thompson's role as a determined singer and primary love-interest in Creed involved intense hands-on preparation.

The Selma actress faced not only the role as the complex Bianca, but also the challenge to write and perform her character's original music. A fan of director Ryan Coogler, the young star jumped into the Creed role head-first, calling it "incredible."

"Ryan called me on a Friday to ask me if I wanted to make the movie, and I said 'Yes," she told Time magazine in an interview published Monday. "And he goes, 'Okay. Do you want to write the songs?' And I said, 'Yes.' And he goes, 'Okay. You should go to the studio...Tomorrow."

"I started right away," Thompson said. "And I had two weeks to spend with Ludwig Goransson who is really talented, not just a composer for the film but also a music producer -- he's made all the Childish Gambino records."

In addition to playing a motivated singer who is faced with the challenge of following her dreams and supporting her significant other's aspiration, Thompson's character also faces impending deafness.

"My favorite thing to do is get a phone call that I have a job and feel like I have to have a panic attack thinking about how to do the job," she said to the Los Angeles Times. "I kind of get bored if I have a call that I know I can handle."

The significantly nuanced female supporting character that is Bianca is a new concept for sports films like Creed, which continues the Rocky Balboa franchise. "I'm sort of the benefactor of the fact that [Hollywood] is now interested in telling more rounded stories," Thompson said.

"That just wasn't the case a while ago. As far as choices, there weren't that many to make. So to play young women who are not just the object of the narrative but the subject of the narrative and nuanced and cool, that wasn't really happening for women like me."