Entertainment
Black Panther star Letitia Wright pays tribute to late co-star Chadwick Boseman after posthumous Oscar nomination: ‘I wish I had got to say goodbye’
Letitia Wright has paid tribute to her Black Panther co-star Chadwick Boseman, who died of colon cancer last year.
The actress called the late star her ‘big brother’ in an emotional tribute for Vogue magazine.
It comes as Boseman received a posthumous Oscar nomination for his final role in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
She described acting opposite him in Black Panther, in which she played Shuri, the sister of his titular character.
Speaking about her audition with Boseman when she was just 22, Letitia said: ‘As we read our lines, playing siblings for the first time, my hand reflexively went to his chest, over his heart surprising me. Why was I touching the chest of a man I’d just met? But then he wrapped his huge, beautiful hands around mine and held them there.
‘It became more than an audition scene. I felt I had found the big brother I never had.’
She described the actor’s energy being ‘lower’ when they met again for filming in Atlanta, with the actor telling her he was ‘tired’ from travelling to audition with other actors. Boseman did not make his illness publicly known, with fans finding out in a statement released by his family after he died.
Letitia added: ‘I wish I had got to say goodbye. I wish that I could tell him how much he inspired me. How cherished he is by the world. How grateful I am to him for seeing me, a young black woman from Guyana – a small fish in a big pond. How his yes for me to be a part of his world changed my life forever. For his selfless act of sharing his spirit and gift with us.’
The Marvel star has been decorated with posthumous awards including a Critics’ Choice Award and a Golden Globe.
His widow Taylor Simone Ledward has been accepting awards in his place with heartfelt and emotional speeches.
See the full feature in the April issue of British Vogue available via digital download and on newsstands now.
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