Chadwick Boseman: ‘Black Panther’ Director Ryan Coogle Geller, Tribute

“Before sharing my thoughts on the demise of the great Chadwick Bozman, I would first like to express my deepest condolences to his family, especially to his wife Simon.

I inherited the casting selection of Marvel and Raso Brothers’ T’Challa. It’s something I’ll be forever grateful for. The first time I saw Chad’s performance as T’Challa was in the unfinished cut of “Captain America: Civil War.” I decided that directing “Black Panther” was the right choice for me. I will never forget, sitting in an editorial suite at Disney Lot and watching its scenes. Her first film as Black Widow with Scarlett Johansson, followed by South African cinema Titan, starring John Kane as T’Challa’s father, King T’Chaca. At that moment I knew I wanted to make this movie. After Scarlett’s character left them, Chad and John began to communicate in a language I had never heard before. It felt familiar, full of the same clicks and smacks that little black kids would do in the States. The same clicks that we are always harassed for being disrespectful or inappropriate. But, it had a musicality to it that felt ancient, powerful and African.

In my meeting after watching the film, I asked one of the film’s producers, Nate Moore, about the language. “Did you guys make it?” Nat replied, “It’s the original language of Joshua, John Cani. He and Chad decided to do this kind of scene on set, and we turned with him.” I thought to myself. “He just learned lines in another language, that day?” I couldn’t imagine how difficult it must have been, and even though I hadn’t met Chad, I was already in awe of his ability as an actor.

I found out later that there was a lot of conversation about what T’Challa would look like in the film. The decision to have Osa Osa as the official language of Wakanda was strengthened by Chad, a native of South Carolina, as he was able to learn his lines in Osa Osa there. He also advocated speaking his character with African accents, so that he could present to the audience T’Challa as an African king, whose dialect could not be won by the West.

Once I signed on to the film, I finally met Chad in person in early 2016. He snatched up reporters from the past who had gathered for the press junk that I was doing for “Creed” and met with me in the green room. We talked about our lives, my time playing soccer in college, and our collective vision for T’Challa and Wakanda while studying to be a director at Howard. We talked about the irony of how T’Challa was writing the current arc with his former Howard classmate Ta-Nehsi Coates Marvel K with Mix. And Chad knew how Howard student Prince Jones, who murdered a police officer, was among the memoirs of Coates and inspired the world.

That’s when I saw that Chad is an anomaly. It was quiet. Guaranteed to study constantly. But kind, comforting, was the warmest smile in the world, and the eyes that had seen her more than her years, but she would shine like a child but seeing something for the first time.

She was the first in many conversations. She was a special person. We were always talking about heritage and what it means to be African. While preparing the film, he will consider every decision, every choice, not only how it will affect him, but how he can re-apply those choices. “They’re not ready for this, what are we doing …” “This is Star Wars, this is the Lord of the Rings, but for us … and big!” He would tell me this when he was struggling to finish the dramatic scene, pulling up to double overtime. Or when he was covered in body paint, he did his own stunts. Or crash into frozen water and foam landing pads. I laugh and laugh, but I don’t believe it. I don’t know if the film will work or not. I’m not sure I know what I’m doing. But I look back and understand that Chad knows something we all didn’t give up on. He had been playing a long game. All while working. And the work he did.

It will come in itions dishes for supporting roles, which is not common for the main actors of big budget movies. It was for many M’Baku auditions. In Winston Dukes, he turned to the chemistry he read in wrestling matches. Winston broke his bracelet. In Letia Wright’s ition dish for Shuri, she pierced the royal pose with her signature humor, and brought a smile to T’Challa’s face which was 100% Chad’s.

While shooting the movie, we met at the scene fee or at my rented house in Atlanta, to discuss the lines and different ways to add depth to each scene. We talked about costumes, military dealings. He told me “Wakand has to dance during the coronation. If they stand there with spears, what makes them different from the Romans?” In the initial drafts of the script. Eric Kilmanjar’s character will ask T’Challa to bury him in Wakanda. Chad challenged him and asked, “What if Kilmonger is asked to be buried somewhere else?”

Chad valued his privacy deeply, and I was not private for the details of his illness. After his family released his statement, I realized that whenever I know him he lives with his illness. Because he was a caretaker, a leader and a man of faith, pride and dignity, he saved his colleagues from his misery. He lives a beautiful life. And he created great art. Day by day, year after year. That was it. It was an epic fireworks display. I’ll tell stories of staying there for some bright sparks until the end of my day. What an incredible mark it is for us.

I have never suffered such a heavy loss before. I spent the last year preparing, imagining and writing the words to say for her, which we weren’t determined to see. He breaks me down knowing that I won’t be able to see his second close-up in his monitor again or go to him and take another one.

It hurts more to know that we can’t have another conversation, or a facetime or text message exchange. He used to send vegetarian recipes and meals to my family and me during the epidemic. He will also examine me and my loved ones while he is battling cancer.

In African cultures we always refer to loved ones who have passed on as ancestors. Sometimes you are genetically related. Sometimes you don’t. I had the privilege of directing Chad’s character, T’Challa’s scenes, interacting with Wakanda’s ancestors. We were in Atlanta, in an abandoned warehouse, with bluescreens and massive movie lights, but Chad’s performance made it feel real. I think that was the reason that ever since I got it, the ancestors spoke through them. It is no longer a mystery to me how he is able to skillfully portray some of our remarkable things. I had no doubt that he would live and continue to bless us more. But with a heavy heart and a deep sense of gratitude for always being in his presence, I have to count on the fact that Chad is now an ancestor. And I know he will keep an eye on us until we meet again. “

Programming will begin at 8 a.m. Sunday. The film will be released commercially free, according to an ABC press release.