This Fan's Chadwick Boseman Encounter Story Will Hurt, But in a Good Way
Out of all celebrity encounters, this one story is, perhaps, the most heartwarming.
"He's really sweet and shy. Surprisingly timid for a celebrity," this is how a Redditor named scrawny_mfer described late Chadwick Boseman, the brightest star of Marvel's Black Panther, who tragically died of colon cancer in 2020.
"In 2013 my sister and I got to be extras in the James Brown movie. It was filmed in Jackson, MS near us," the user recalls. "We were shooting the scene where he sits on a doorstep and gives the kids toys on Christmas."
The redditor says they got to see him and shake his hand and then Boseman gave all the children sweets and stuffed animals.
"He's really sweet and shy. Surprisingly timid for a celebrity," scrawny_mfer said, adding that the actor seemed to not really like the attention. When the redditor learned that cancer took Boseman's life he said it hurt differently. "He's a legendary actor."
Chadwick Boseman was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2016, but he kept his illness a secret throughout the shooting of Black Panther. There were no leaks about him battling cancer, just some speculations about weight loss, and his death came as a shock to Marvel fans. They praised Boseman's strength, perseverance and how much he managed to do and how hard he worked during his last years. The actor continued to act until he died in August 2020.
"It's morbid and in a way beautiful. Obviously not that he passed this early but that we really did have no idea and yet still he kept fighting, not letting his battle dim his spirits or those of the many people who looked up to him," reads one of the comments posted shortly after the announcement was made.
The portrayal of King T'Challa in Black Panther propelled Boseman to worldwide fame. The actor was paid $2 million for taking part in the MCU film, which has set a box office record becoming the highest-grossing movie by a Black filmmaker. It also made it to the top ten films with the highest box office.
The movie's director Ryan Coogler recalled that he wanted Boseman to read the script of Black Panther's sequel, Wakanda Forever. He called the actor and suggested him taking a look at it, but Boseman refused to read the script before the studio made notes. The filmmaker believes Boseman was too tired of his condition to read it. He passed away shortly after their conversation, and the team had to have another go at the script, because after Boseman's death King T'Challa could no longer be the main character.