The Only Word Tessa Thompson Refused to Say in Creed 3

Continuing the epic story of the son of Apollo Creed, the third installment delves deeper into the family drama and, to the delight of longtime fans, shows plenty of character development.

It's great to see that the actors themselves are really invested in the story, paying close attention to the development of their characters. Recently, Tessa Thompson, who plays Donnie's wife Bianca Taylor-Creed, shared a notable detail that was her contribution to the new movie.

It's just one word, but it really shows the actress' dedication to her character, who has evolved just as much as Adonis Creed himself.

The word in question is "jawn," which is a slang term used by Philadelphians for any object, site, or entity — in fact, just about anything can be a jawn. And, curiously, it's the word that the actress refused to say in this installment of the Creed franchise because using it would mean that her character hasn't changed much since the events of the previous movies.

Bianca Taylor first appeared in the original Creed as a musician and Donnie's neighbor during his time in Philadelphia, where he came to meet Rocky Balboa, his biological father's old friend. The music in Bianca's apartment was too loud, so an annoyed Donnie went to tell her to turn it down — and fell in love at first sight.

Now back to the "jawn" moment, here's what the actress said about her character's development, which is reflected in her language: "I'm not saying 'jawn' in this movie because we've heard it, we've done it. I want to break new territory [...] Not saying 'jawn' was also a way of saying inside of the filmmaking that you are going to witness someone that is constantly evolving."

The thing is, the word "jawn" was featured heavily in Creed, making it a big part of Bianca's identity as a Philadelphian.

But since the events of Creed III take place seven years later, and Adonis and Bianca have long been living in LA, Bianca's personality has changed considerably — she's now a full-fledged Angeleno, with an appropriate manner of speech and outlook on life.

While such a small detail may seem insignificant, avoiding "jawn" in her speech was a nice touch from Thompson, showing just how much she cares about her character and her evolution in the movies. And we certainly admire the actress for giving Bianca such a unique personality — after all, she's incredibly important for the story, influencing the main character and his decisions.