‘Ironheart’: Dominique Thorne Got the Role Without an Audition

Ironheart actress Dominique Thorne, who will play Riri Williams in the upcoming series, got the role without even auditioning for the part.

Rumored last year, the MCU series Ironheart was later verified to serve as a Disney+ series at Disney’s Investor Day presentation, announcing Dominique Thorne as the titular character. This surprised many fans, particularly due to the young actress being a beginner with only two recognitions to her name.

Riri Williams is fairly new to Marvel. The character only made her debut in 2016. In the comics, Riri builds her own version of Iron Man’s suit, catching Stark’s attention. Although Stark’s appearance will not be possible in the show, it isn’t questionable that Riri could be uniting with Don Cheadle’s War Machine, who is set to have his own MCU show with Armor Wars.

Earlier in February, Dominique Thorne had spoken about how Marvel Studios reached out to her to play Riri Willaims in Ironheart. In a recent interview with Empire, the actress clarified that she didn’t even need to audition for the titular role when she was offered it.

Speaking with Empire, Dominique Thorne talked about the casting process for Riri Williams,

“I was at home in Delaware, and I got a call asking if I would like to play this role…It was the best phone call I could have ever received.”

Dominique Thorne

She superficially brought up that there was “no audition at all” for the part and that Marvel Studios had approached her with the offer,

“I was so shocked, in fact, that there was a considerable lag in the conversation! I was waiting for them to say, like, ‘Oh, we’ll send you the sides’, or, ‘Get your tape over to us.’ But there was none of that. It was just like, ‘Would you like to do this?’ It was probably the most unique experience I’ve ever had because there was no audition at all.”

Dominique Thorne

It appears like no one else was even approached for the part before it was given to Dominique Thorne. So far, Thorne has only two credited roles (Barry Jenkins’ If Beale Street Could Talk and Shaka King’s Judas and the Black Messiah). However, there shouldn’t be any suspicion in Marvel Studios, who haven’t lagged yet when casting their leads. It looks like either Kevin Feige (president), Sarah Finn (casting director), or someone else at the studio surely loved what Thorne did in both her films.

About Ironheart

Ironheart is an upcoming American television series created by Chinaka Hodge for the streaming service Disney+, based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. It is intended to be the 11th television series in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) produced by Marvel Studios, sharing continuity with the films of the franchise.

Hodge serves as head writer. The series is also produced by Proximity Media and 20th Television. Ironheart is scheduled to premiere on Disney+ in late 2023, and will consist of six episodes. It will be part of Phase Five of the MCU.

Riri Williams is a 15-year-old engineering student and the daughter of the late Riri Williams Sr.  A certified super-genius, she attends the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on scholarship. Working alone, Riri designs a suit of armor similar to the Iron Man Armor using material stolen from campus.