The 'Black Panther' star died on Aug. 28, 2020 of colon cancer. He would have turned 47 on Wednesday.
Lupita Nyong'o is paying tribute to her late friend, Chadwick Boseman, on what would have been his 47th birthday.
On Wednesday, the 40-year-old actress took to Instagram to celebrate the Marvel star's birthday. She shared a never-before-seen photo of her and Boseman with Michael B. Jordan and Black Panther director Ryan Coogler.
"Marking the birthday of a heroic friend. I am blessed that his time on this earth coincided with mine," she captioned the candid Polaroid photo. Nyong'o explained that the photo was from their trip to Seoul, Korea, while promoting the first Black Panther film in 2018.
Boseman, who played King T'Challa, aka the Black Panther, died at the age of 43 after a four-year battle with colon cancer.
The Howard University graduate had grown close to his co-stars while filming the history-making Marvel project, so much so that it was no surprise that after he died in 2020, Marvel Studios announced they wouldn't recast or digitally recreate T'Challa for the film's sequel.
Coogler and the cast were tasked with a tall order: dealing with the heartbreaking loss both off and onscreen for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
The desire to honor Chadwick's legacy transformed the original Wakanda Forever script, which initially centered on the evolution of King T'Challa as a leader, into a film heavily centered on the grieving of Wakanda after the death of their king.
Coogler, who spoke about stepping away from Hollywood following Boseman's death, told ET at the film's premiere last year, that he wanted to carry on the film and its legacy for the late actor.
"When you experience anything that sudden, as what happened with us, it's traumatic," the lauded director explained. "You go through all types of different thoughts. Thankfully, that thought that you mentioned, it was a fleeting thought. As I felt more and thought more and thought more about Chadwick and how he lived his life, it made all the sense in the world to keep going. I know that he wouldn't want us to stop."
As for where he got the strength to continue from, Coogler said he drew on his time with Boseman for inspiration.
"I mean, I was blessed. People like Chadwick don't come along often, and I was blessed to have spent a whole lot of time with him," Coogler shared. "So, I really reflected on our time together -- what it was like to work with him, looking back at pictures and videos, thinking about conversations that we had that it was just me and him, and reflecting on all of that stuff, and that gave me the motivation to get back to work."
"And once I was around the cast, and around everybody, we got the band back together so to speak -- that was all the motivation I needed," he added. "They just did fantastic work."
When it comes to how both T'Challa and Boseman were honored in the film, star Letitia Wright said a lot of the credit goes to Coogler and the script he penned for the Black Panther franchise's second installment.
"We're extremely proud of how Ryan has brought a script that could honor Chad, that could honor T'Challa," Wright said. "I'm so proud of the way us as a family, the Wakandan family that you know and love, has come together to bring you a second installment, and yet, it's really hard to do this without our brother -- he should be here."
"But, as he's looking down on us," she added, "we're hoping that this film just makes him proud, and we're hoping that you guys are proud of us for what we've brought to you."
Angela Bassett, who played Boseman's mother in the film, said that the late actor was on set with the cast and crew each and every day, motivating them to continue and do their best.
"We loved him. We know that you love him, and we will honor that. We honor it for the fans, as well for ourselves," the Waiting to Exhale actress said. "It was very important that we recognized him. We couldn't do it without him."
"So, before we shot one frame, we all gathered together at his resting place, and we...," she continued, motioning upwards, "his name to the heavens, and we smiled, and we were with his family, and it was a beautiful experience. Because it's too painful otherwise, but when we lean into the love we have for him, the respect, the regard, and as a feeling people, as a people who know that death is not the end -- we know that he was on that set with us every day, whispering, 'Go on. Do your best. Be excellent. Don't get weary.'"
ET also spoke with the late actor's wife, Simone Ledward Boseman, who reflected on learning to make peace while living with grief two years after his tragic death and shared how she and the Wakanda Forever cast created an ode to her husband's legacy and his teachings.
"It all is [a nod to Chadwick]," Simone told ET. "Chad very clearly still has a huge impact on people, and all we want to do is make sure that that legacy continues and we continue giving back, and we continue moving with his ideals and with his beliefs and uplifting the community.
"Grief is a lifelong battle -- it doesn’t go away, it moves in, it takes a seat [and] its says 'Get used to me,'" Simone said to ET, sharing that her faith in God has helped her along the process. "And I think you don't really get over anything, you just continue. You just learn how to carry this weight that you're now stuck with. Some days the weight feels heavier and some days it feels a little lighter, and even that lightness feels heavy in and of itself. So, it's complicated."
"But I'm doing my best and the sun rises the next day and we have to keep moving," she added.
Noting that there were "many moments" with her husband that she keeps close to her heart, Simone said that she likes to look back on how Boseman was a "teacher" to others. "I think being able to really watch him work and watch how he made decisions and how he really thought and meditated and put himself in other people's shoes and tried to look at a situation from every single angle is something that will never be lost on me," she shared.
"[Ryan] really has such a deep love for Chad and also a deep respect for him," Simone noted. "I feel so blessed that they are the family and the team that continues telling this story, that continue the Black Panther franchise because I don't know that anyone else could do it but Ryan, I really don't."
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