Ryan Coogler took a second to talk about the biggest lesson that Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman left him with. The Hollywood Reporter caught up with the filmmaker to discuss his role as a producer on Judas and the Black Messiah. But, the conversation also gestured towards Boseman’s looming absence in Coogler’s next project. The director talked about how the Marvel legend would always press him to move forward. He also noted that the Black Panther star was the first one attached to the project at all. Therefore, the actor was the motivating force behind everything that followed. That kind of selfless spirit and desire to move forward under duress is something that Coogler carries with him every day. The director also shared that he really didn’t know anything about Boseman’s medical conditions. He completely understands why the star would have wanted to keep that private.
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“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,” he recalled. “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.”
“I didn’t know what was going on,” Coogler added. “I knew what he wanted me to know. I miss him in every way that you could miss somebody, as a friend, as a collaborator. And it sucks because I love watching movies, and I don’t get to watch the next thing he would have made. So it’s grief on a lot of levels, but then, it’s a deep sense of gratitude because I can close my eyes and hear his voice.”
Even though the Black Panther actor is gone, he is not forgotten by the legions of fans and the people he worked with. As awards season unfolds, he keeps netting awards for his part in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. But, whatever happens next for Coogler, he’ll remember that lesson in whatever challenge comes next.
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