Like many, we were very surprised and deeply saddened to hear of the sudden passing of Chadwick Boseman, who died on Friday 28th August. He was 43. The actor had been diagnosed with colon cancer four years ago but chose not to make the information public.
Whilst he will be remembered for portraying T'Challa/Black Panther in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Boseman's other films saw him playing trailblazers and barrier-breakers, always with an undeniable
Born in Anderson, South Carolina, Boseman studied at Howard University in Washington, D.C., where he was mentored by actress Phylicia Rashad and graduated in 2000 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in directing. He also attended the British American Drama Academy in Oxford. In an interview, Boseman stated: "I started out as a writer and a director. I started acting because I wanted to know how to relate to the actors."
He started his acting career on TV, with appearances on shows like Law & Order, Cold Case, ER, Lie To Me, Castle, and Fringe. He also appeared in a couple of short films, and made his feature film debut in 2008 in The Express, a sports biopic about Ernie Davis, the first African-American football player to win the Heisman Trophy. He also appeared in war drama The Kill Hole (2012) and sports drama Draft Day (2014).
Boseman first made a major impression on Hollywood when he played the lead role of baseball player Jackie Robinson in sports biopic 42 (2013). Directed by Brian Helgeland, 42 tells the true story of how Robinson became the first African-American athlete to play Major League Baseball when he was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, predictably (and depressingly) followed by racist abuse on and off the field, from fellow players and fans alike. The film shows Robinson's inner turmoil at having to take the abuse and not react, and his fire and determination not to be beaten down, which Boseman channels superbly. At one point, he says "I don't care if they like me. I didn't come here to make friends. I don't even care if they respect me. I know who I am. I've got enough respect for myself. I do not want them to beat me."
His next major film role would be another biopic, but about the life of a remarkably different man to the stoic Jackie Robinson. Boseman played Godfather of Soul James Brown in Tate Taylor's Get On Up (2014). Whilst the biopic is a little uneven, Boseman's exuberant and flamboyant performance captures the soul of the man. After that, he played the Egyptian god Thoth in Alex Proyas' mindboggling Gods Of Egypt (2016) before he made his first appearance in the MCU.
However, in between playing Black Panther in four movies, Boseman took on several other roles, including a young man on the trail of revenge in Message From The King (2016) and NAACP lawyer (and future Supreme Court Justice) Thurgood Marshall in Marshall (2017). Marshall would go on to be the first African-American Supreme Court Justice when he was nominated for the role by John F. Kennedy. Again, it's a very dignified performance.
Of course, though, it was his work in the Marvel Cinematic Universe which propelled him to the stratosphere. Relatively unknown when his casting was announced in 2014 (although he'd got 42 under his belt), he soon made an incredibly strong first impression when he appeared in Captain America: Civil War (2016) as the prince of Wakanda who is thrust into a leadership role when his father is killed in the bombing at the Vienna conference which would ratify the Sokovia Accords. Considering how stacked the roster of MCU characters was at this point, it's a testament to Boseman as an actor that Black Panther didn't get lost in the muddle.
Of course, the character went on to have his own solo film in 2018. Black Panther broke all sorts of records and became the first superhero movie to be nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. Showing that his performance in Captain America: Civil War was no one-off, Boseman carries the film with charm, power, and charisma. He has a wonderful rapport with Letitia Wright (playing Shuri) and Angela Bassett (who plays Ramonda). You believe him as a man torn between opening Wakanda up to the world and keeping traditions. For me, Black Panther is one of the stronger MCU standalone films and part of that is down to Boseman's performance.
In Avengers: Infinity War (2018), T'Challa is one of the victims of Thanos' snap and blinks out of existence, to be revived in Avengers: Endgame (2019) and join with the other Wakandans to participate in the final battle. Whatever else you may say about the film, there's an undeniable joy when you see the characters returning. There were plans for Boseman to reprise his role as T'Challa in a sequel to Black Panther, due for release in 2022.
Boseman released two films prior to his death, the cop drama 21 Bridges (2019), and Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods (2020) in which he appears in flashback as Stormin" Norman, the leader of the all-Black squadron sent in to recover the cargo from the downed CIA helicopter. He had completed filming Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, based on the play by August Wilson in which he plays the ambitious trumpet player Levee opposite his Get On Up castmate Viola Davis as the titular Ma Rainey, for Netflix prior to the COVID-19 shutdown.
In an interview with The Wrap in 2018, Boseman said: "What I have always wanted to do is to break those barriers in every way that I can. If I’m looking at something, I think, ‘How do I break a barrier in this role? What can I bring to the table that’s different?’" From portraying barrier-breaking rea-life people with nuance and style, to showing a generation of Black children that they could be superheroes too, Boseman certainly broke down some barriers. That he was determined to still work and take on majorly physical roles whilst undergoing and recovering from various operations and chemotherapy is testament to his strength and soul.
Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this most difficult time.
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