See Paula Patton's Intense Training For Role In Warcraft

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You may know Paula Patton for her turn in quite a few romantic comedies, but she’s no stranger to some serious action. That’s exactly why the actress jumped at the chance to play Garona Halforcen in the upcoming Warcraft movie, an adaptation of the popular online role-playing game. Her character is a green half-Orc, half-Draenei and a “spy-mistress” and “assassin.” Talk about a badass.

Anywho, to prepare to play such a fierce woman, and to properly execute a lot of her own stunts, Patton went through some hard training. In a new featurette to promote the film, we see part of Patton’s training process, which includes some intense sparring.

I think that it’s so important to feel physically that you can do what your character is able to do,” Patton said. “Garona has lived in a world where she has had to be tough to survive. She’s a fierce, strong, warrior-like person. So the physical preparation was very daunting.”

Patton went through two and a half hours of physical training six days a week, and eventually added two hours of step training to learn swordplay, how to handle the knives and sticks her character uses, and more.

And though she did indeed say it was “daunting,” Patton loved the process. “It’s like any kid’s dream right? To be able to do things like this.”

She’s definitely a beast in the movie–figuratively and literally.

Check out the clip for yourself below, and be sure to check out Warcraft when it hits theaters June 10.