Chadwick Boseman sadly passed away four years ago, but Lupita Nyong’o continues to feel her friend’s absence. The Oscar winner reflected on Boseman’s death and paid tribute to him when a snippet of their Black Panter movie was shown to her at a BFI London Film Festival event on Monday, PEOPLE reported.
Boseman died on August 28, 2020, at the age of 43 after battling colon cancer. Prior to his death, the Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom star’s medical condition was not publicly known.
“The grief is just the love with no place to put it, right?” Nyong’o emotionally said before she refused to be shown another video. “I don’t run away from the tears or the grief, you know? You just live with it. That experience will never be separate from the love that was formed,” the 41-year-old added.
Nyong’o and Boseman are remembered for co-starring in Black Panther. She portrayed Nakia, a Wakandan spy and King T’Challa’s love interest. Nyong’o while talking about Boseman also said she was yet to re-watch the box-office hit movie after his death.
“I watch this clip and I’m filled with grief and I don’t know whether I’ll ever be done shedding my tears from losing my friend,” she said. “But I’m like, we get to see him alive. And that’s so wonderful.”
On the fourth anniversary of Boseman’s death, Nyong’o similarly paid tribute to him in a post on her Instagram page. “Grief never ends. But it changes. It is a passage, not a place to stay. Grief is not a sign of weakness, nor a lack of faith. It’s the price of love,” the 12 Years a Slave star wrote in the August 28 post. “Remembering Chadwick Boseman. Forever.”
Recently, fellow Black Panther star Daniel Kaluuya opened up about how the deceased actor “big bro-ed” and “helped” him out after they met, Face2Face Africa reported.
Kaluuya, 35, similarly touched on his relationship with Boseman and various other topics during a BFI London Film Festival event, per The Hollywood Reporter. “Meeting Chad was a pivotal moment in my life,” Kaluuya told fellow actor and long-time friend Ashley Walters when he was asked about coming into contact with Boseman.
“I remember we had a dinner, and I sat opposite him. He could see my life was changing, and I didn’t know. He leaned in — and I was about to go on a press run, and I didn’t have a publicist [Laughs]. He leaned in and saw I needed help and guidance, and I didn’t have to ask. And I didn’t know how to ask.”
“He big bro-ed me, he helped me out,” he added. “Then Get Out came out, and he did a speech on my birthday, it was so poignant. He was an incredible leader on set, and I really felt for him because doing those Marvel things, that’s work. That’s hard. Especially doing the action sequences in those suits in hot weather, it’s hard on the body… Knowing that he did that while he was going through what he was going through, I don’t really have the words for it.
“He just gave everything, he led in a very noble way. He always brought people together… He always had time for everyone. Him and Lupita [Nyong’o], they were always back and forth, and they just knew that my life was changing.”
