Ryan Coogler learned swimming to direct 'Black Panther 2'

Ryan Coogler revealed he learned swimming to shoot the film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, according to Variety.

"A lot of us were raised to have a fear of water," the 36-year-old filmmaker told Variety, confessing his trepidation and recalling several reasons Black people have stayed way — or times they've been excluded — from pools and the ocean over the years. "I had to figure out how to swim so I could direct this movie."

"It's a lot of Black and Mesoamerican folks in water in this movie," Coogler said with a smile, revealing the cultural implications of the film.

"I'm excited for people to see what these two did in the water," the director added, praising Bassett and Wright before giving thumps up to the full group of performers, many of which learned swimming for the film and trained with top-notch free diving instructors and an aquatic stunt team set together for the movie.

"I was just impressed by how much stunt work they all did, how everybody showed up ready to go, ready to learn how to free dive."

Coogler was known as the director who likes to be as near to his actors as possible, rather than sitting by the monitors, "If the camera's in the water, actors are in the water, I've got to be in there too," he explained.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will hit the theatres on November 11.