As the American actress and musician who portrayed Jackie Cook on the noir television film series Veronica Mars, Tessa Thompson, joined Ryan Coogler (American film director and screenwriter) and Michael B. Jordan for the "Rocky" spin-off "Creed", the move proved to be definitely a win-win situation for actress.
Tessa Thompson expressed how the upcoming film provided a prime opportunity for her not only to work with director Ryan Coogler and actor Michael B. Jordan, but to also leave the film industry with a distinct mark of her character - Bianca, the love interest of Adonis Johnson (played by Michael B. Jordan), the son of Rocky's late friend and former enemy, Apollo Creed.
Thompson describes Bianca's character in the film as Adonis' "perfect counterpart". While Adonis strives to make a name for himself and build his boxing legacy, she on the other hand struggles to make a successful career in music.
She also observed how personal the film was for Ryan Coogler since the film director actually grew up watching the Rocky films with his father.
She stated, "The first thing that attracted me to this project was Ryan Coogler. I was such a fan of the 2013 film 'Fruitvale Station' and Ryan Coogler's work in it, and I thought that it was the product of an incredible collaboration between Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan. I was just filled with a feeling of love by both of their talents. So that was the initial thing that was really attractive to me about the process of working on the Creed film."
However, Ryan Coogler came to Creed's focus on Adonis and his internal struggle to follow his father's (Apollo Creed) footsteps while making his own identity personally in the world of boxing.
Tessa Thompson also said, "It was on my mind that if you were going to reboot a franchise, I think you ought to have a really admiring reason for it and this was Ryan Coogler's brainchild that came from a really personal place for him. I felt it was such a clever idea, and then, when I read the script that director Ryan Coogler co-wrote with Aaron Covington I felt like it was executed so incredibly."
