Chadwick Boseman was just as brave as his superhero character in The Black Panther.
Many of his friends and co-workers expressed just how brave the late actor was during a discussion with The Hollywood Reporter. Boseman passed away on August 28. According to his reps, the star was battling colon cancer since he was diagnosed in 2016. His friends admitted that they didn’t know about it at all.
President of Howard University, Dr. Wayne A.I. Frederick, said he had dinner with Boseman, who was an alumnus of the said university, and Phylicia Rashad to talk about the school’s Fine Arts program. He noticed that he looked smaller and even asked him what it was like to change his appearance to suit his roles.
The actor explained he was a vegetarian and exercised and took care of himself. He didn’t mention anything about being sick at all.
Boseman’s trainer, Addison Henderson, also didn’t have a clue. He used to tell him that he reminded him of his dad who beat cancer four times. They kept going and training and he lived his artistic life to the fullest. He used his time and moment to affect people.
Michael Green, Boseman’s agent, said that the actor decided to keep his condition private because of his mom’s influence. His mom taught him to not have others fuss over him and he was a very private person. Greene claimed that Boseman was I hard-core pain while filming Black Bottom by Ma. Rainey. For the actor, it was exciting to work with Denzel Washington and to launch a cycle of August Wilson at Netflix.
On the other hand, Black Panther director Ryan Coogler paid tribute to the star over the weekend. According to him, he realized that Boseman was living with his illness the whole time he knew him. He referred to him as a caretaker, leader, and as a man of faith, dignity, and pride. He added that he shielded his collaborators from the suffering he was going through. Coogler also said that Boseman lived a beautiful life and made great art. He referred to him as an epic firework display.
Spike Lee also said that when they filmed Da 5 Bloods in Thailand, Boseman was there all the way. He admitted that he never suspected anything was wrong and nobody knew he was undergoing chemotherapy.
Other celebrities also paid tribute to the actor. Among them was Leticia Wright, honored her “brother”, Chadwick Boseman, in the most moving way possible through a tear-jerking spoken word poem. Also, during MVAs 2020 Keke Palmer opened the award show by dedicating it to the Black Panther star.
Chadwick Boseman’s family thanked everybody for their love and prayers and for respecting their privacy during this time.
