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Denzel Washingtonis remembering working withChadwick Bosemanon the late actor’s final film role.
Washington, 67, produced the Oscar-winning 2020 Netflix movieMa Rainey’s Black Bottom, which also starred Viola Davis. Speaking withVarietyfor the magazine’s latest cover story, Washington admits he noticed Boseman’s declining health during production.
TheBlack Pantherstardiedof colon cancer on Aug. 28, 2020, at age 43. He had been diagnosed with stage III colon cancer in 2016 and had battled it privately for four years as it progressed to stage IV.
“A man among men. He suffered quietly. He made the movie, and nobody knew. I didn’t know,” said Washington. “He never said a peep about it. He just did his job.”
“I wondered if something was wrong because he seemed weak or tired sometimes,” the actor/director added. “We had no idea, and it was nobody’s business. Good for him, keeping it to himself.”
Washington once quietly paid for Boseman and several of his Howard University classmates to attend an acting program at England’s Oxford University. In 2019, Bosemanshared the full storywhile honoring Washington before theMalcolm Xactor accepted the American Film Institute’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
Chadwick Boseman inMa Rainey’s Black Bottom.David Lee/Netflix
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“As fate would have it, I was one of the students that he paid for,” he continued at the time. “Imagine receiving the letter that your tuition for that summer was paid for and that your benefactor was none other than the dopest actor on the planet. … There is no Black Panther without Denzel Washington.”
RELATED VIDEO: Anthony Hopkins Honors Chadwick Boseman in Belated Oscars Speech: He Was ‘Taken from Us Far Too Early’
Onthe Oscarsred carpet a year before that, Boseman opened up about the moment when he finally got a chance to thank Washington for his support.
“It was a fun conversation. The first thing he said was, ‘You owe me money! I came to collect!’ " Bosemanrecalledto ABC’s Michael Strahan at the time. “It was so deep, I can’t even go into it right now. We sort of just talked about what’s been happening, what’s about to happen.”
In a statement after Boseman’s death,Washington honored the actor, saying, “He was a gentle soul and a brilliant artist who will stay with us for eternity through his iconic performances over his short yet illustrious career. God bless Chadwick Boseman.”
source: people.com
