Viola Davis has talked about her time working with the late Chadwick Boseman, and how she misinterpreted treatment he received on set.
The pair appeared together in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Boseman’s final film before his death in August 2020 from colon cancer, an illness he had been battling privately since 2016. He was 43 years old.
The drama was released after his death and earned the Black Panther actor a posthumous Oscar nomination. Boseman kept his condition private, with most colleagues, including Davis, unaware of what he was going through.
In an interview with The Times, the star of the upcoming action film G20 recalled seeing her co-star taken care of by his fiancé, Taylor Simone Ledward, and his makeup artist. She saw them playing music for him between takes and giving him back rubs.
“There was a part of me that was a little judgmental — why do you need all that,” she recalled. “Little did I know that they were doing it because he was dying”.
While the moment may have been misunderstood, Davis has paid many tributes to Boseman’s abilities and artistry. Last August, on the fourth anniversary of his death, she posted a photo of the actor along with a warm caption.
“Authenticity, passion and love were all woven in one extraordinary human…..CHADWICK BOSEMAN!” she wrote. “You live on in me. Your flame will never be extinguished”.
Last October, Boseman’s Black Panther co-star Lupita Nyong’o became emotional talking about the loss of her friend during an appearance at the London Film Festival. “The grief is just the love with no place to put it” she said. “I don’t run away from the tears or the grief. You just live with it. That experience will never be separate”.