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From the musical hurricane of James brown to the baseball myth Jackie Robinson passing first of all by the invincible black hero Black Panther, Chadwick boseman represented African American pride in a 21st century Hollywood that is still a long way from racial equality on the big screen.
Although the iconic Marvel superhero was the role that gave him worldwide fame, with the powerful arms crossed salute as the leader of Wakanda, Boseman’s career, which He died this Friday at 43 due to cancerHe also stood out for his interpretation of African-American legends of all kinds.
From fiction to reality, these iconic characters placed him at the forefront of a new generation of black artists willing to stand up to racism inside and outside the cinema.
“To solve a problem you have to deal with it directly, although in this case the situation comes from the beginning of Hollywood with racist films such as ‘The Birth of a Nation’ (1915)“, Boseman said in an interview with Efe in 2016.
“Those kinds of painful images for the African American population have continued throughout history. Today, minorities have spoken out and made it clear that they want better roles. That is why the debate on diversity must continue and change in the industry needs to occur, “he added.
The actor was born in Anderson, a city in South Carolina (USA), and his first forays into the world of acting came with a play that he wrote and starred during high school about a classmate who had died in a shooting.
Boseman simmered his trajectory and he trained in the United States (Howard University in Washington) and the United Kingdom (British American Drama Academy in Oxford).
His first television role came in 2003 in the series “Third watch” already as an adult in my thirties.
And little by little he made a niche for himself: he made his film debut with “The Express” (2008) and got important characters in the series “Lincoln Heights” (2008-2009) and “Persons Unknown” (2010).
BLACK PIONEERS
Boseman’s life turned upside down when the opportunity came to him in “42” (2013) to play Jackie Robinson, eternal baseball star who was the first African American to play in the modern era of MLB.
Under the direction of Brian Helgeland and accompanied by an actor of the stature of Harrison Ford, “42” opened the doors of “Draft Day” (2014), another sports-themed film starring Kevin Costner and bringing to life a promise of American football.
His serious face, husky voice and imposing presence before the camera marched wonderfully with the praiseworthy tone and mythology that are often articulated in Hollywood biographical films, so very soon after he was chosen to step into the shoes of a true titan of music and an absolute benchmark of “black power” like James Brown in “Get on Up” (2014).
This Tate Taylor film did not have much luck at the box office, but critics and audiences agreed to surrender to Boseman’s passionate performance in a major challenge to recreate someone as chameleonic, powerful and extravagant as James Brown.
“WAKANDA FOREVER”
Although he still had time to recreate in “Marshall” (2017) to another historical figure like Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American Justice of the United States Supreme Court, Boseman achieved the status of great Hollywood figure when Marvel crossed his path to take him to the black paradise of Wakanda.
His debut as Black Panther in “Captain America: Civil War” (2016) it was just a succulent appetizer of what would come with “Black Panther” (2018), the first film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) with a black man as the main character.
The African American Filmmaker Ryan Coogler gathered a splendid cast around Boseman (Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright …) for a blockbuster that exhibited black pride, which destroyed the box office with 1,347 million dollars, that caused a great impact on American society, and that channeled into fiction the anti-racist demands of movements such as Black lives matter.
Along the way, “Black Panther” also made history by becoming the first film in the superhero subgenre to be nominated for an Oscar for best picture (it won the statuettes for best soundtrack, best costumes, and best production design).
Boseman suddenly became a global symbol for black youth.
But it wasn’t just because of the Marvel tapes (it appeared in the triumphant diptych “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame”, 2018-2019), since, for example, in June he was seen in the demonstrations in Los Angeles (USA) after the death at the hands of the Police of the African American George Floyd.
The action of “21 bridges” (2019) and Spike Lee’s very recent anti-war plea in “Da 5 Bloods” (2020) were the last two titles of a Boseman that is pending release “Ma Rainey’s black ass”, adaptation of the work by African American August Wilson and where he shared scenes with Viola Davis.
