Monday marks three years since Chadwick Boseman’s unexpected passing. The beloved actor was only 43, with what seemed like a long and bright future ahead of him, when he died of colon cancer, which he had kept secret from all but those closest to him. One of the many esteemed thespians he worked with was Lupita Nyong’o, who used the third anniversary of his death to pay him moving tribute.
In the post, the Oscar-winning actress reflected on the “singular pain” she experienced upon learning of Boseman’s passing. The confusion was so profound that it took months to trust the feeling of joy again,” she wrote.
The post contained a photo of Boseman that Nyong’o had taken after they arrived in South Korea, back in 2018. “We had just learned to do the baby heart with our fingers,” she recalled, noting that in Boseman’s version of it, as seen in the picture, he’d added his “suave flare.”
“Death is hard to understand, maybe even harder to accept. But the love generated from the life he lived will fuel every anniversary marking his absence,” Nyong’o wrote. “Chadwick may no longer be in our photos, but he will always be in our hearts.”
Nyong’o and Boseman only got to act together that once, in the first Black Panther. She returned as Nakia, warrior and T’Challa’s ex-lover, in the sequel, which was in part an epic tribute to the series’ gone-too-soon star.
(Via Entertainment Weekly)