Lupita Nyong'o mourns Chadwick Boseman: 'It's still so hard for me to come to terms with his passing'
Black Panther II is not expected until July 8, 2022, but the much-hyped sequel is constantly at the forefront of conversation in Hollywood.
The latest example came during Lupita Nyong'o's appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show for Tuesday's episode. The Oscar-winning actress was asked what she will miss the most about Chadwick Boseman, who died last August after a private four-year battle with colon cancer, and she had to take a moment to gather herself before answering (8:15-mark):
"It's still so hard for me to come to terms with his passing," Nyong'o said. "I mean, his leadership. He led the movie with such compassion and just presence. When Chadwick came on set, he was present. And he brought his entire being to that movie. He was just so humble as well. That leadership will be missed."
She continued: "He was my friend, so it's hard to think of him in the past tense still. But I do know for certain that he would want us to do this, and I feel that what Ryan Coogler has planned very much honors him and his legacy. So, I feel good about going back."
Coogler, the director and writer for the original 2018 Black Panther film, echoed that sentiment for The Hollywood Reporter in a feature published last week:
"You've got to keep going when you lose loved ones. I know Chad wouldn't have wanted us to stop. He was somebody who was so about the collective. Black Panther, that was his movie. He was hired to play that role before anybody else was even thought of, before I was hired, before any of the actresses were hired. On that set, he was all about everybody else. Even though he was going through what he was going through, he was checking in on them, making sure they were good. If we cut his coverage, he would stick around and read lines off camera [to help other actors with their performances]. So it would be harder for me to stop. Truthfully. I'd feel him yelling at me, like, 'What are you doing?' So you keep going."
Boseman played the titular character, also known as T'Challa, and Nyong'o played his love interest, Nakia. The blockbuster broke worldwide records and claimed three Oscars. The actor was 43 years old at the time of his passing.
This is not the first time Nyong'o, nor Coogler or other members of the cast, have spoken out about their grief after losing Boseman:
So far this year, Boseman has posthumously won a Golden Globe and SAG Award for his work as a trumpet player named Leveee in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, the final role of his life.
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