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Chadwick Boseman’s sudden demise came as a shock to all his fans and friends in Hollywood fraternity. The late actor has done incredible work in the West and has contributed a lot to the improvement of black actors in the industry.
Boseman during his commencement speech at Howard University in 2018 for the graduating class of his alma mater, the Black Panther actor revealed that he was fired for questioning the producers from one of the shows and was replaced with his future co-star Michael B Jordan.
Chadwick Boseman was suffering from Colon cancer and fought the battle for four-years and while he was at it, he never mentioned how sick he was and gave this speech while going through so much pain physically.
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The 21 Bridges actor revealed, “I was promised to make six figures, more money than I had ever seen. I was feeling myself. Once I saw the role I was playing, I found myself conflicted… this role seemed to be wrapped up in assumptions about us as black folk.” Revealing further Boseman said that it was a role in a soap opera where he was supposed to play a possibly stereotypical role and said, “with a violent streak pulled into the allure of gang involvement, barely a glimpse of positivity or talent in the character.”
After shooting for 2-3 episodes, Chadwick went to speak to the producers regarding his concern with the script of the show and said, “I was let go from that job the next day. The questions I asked caught the producers off guard. It perhaps paved the way for a less stereotypical portrayal for the black actor that stepped into the role after me.”
Explaining it further, the Black Panther actor said, “It was just my luck that after filming the first two episodes, the execs called me up to their office and told me how happy they were with my performance. They wanted me to be around for a long time. They said, if there was anything that I needed, just let them know. That was my opening. I decided to ask them some simple questions about the background of my character. Questions I felt were pertinent to the plot.”
Boseman then asked them two questions, “Where’s my father?” and “In this script, it alluded to my mother not being equipped to be a good parent. So why exactly would my brother and I have to go to foster care?”
Although Chadwick never mentioned the name of the show, according to HuffPost it was noted that the ABC soap opera All My Children appears on his filmography. Later in an interview with GQ, Michael B Jordan revealed, “No dad, no mom, a f—ing stereotypical black role in a soap opera. And I saw the stereotype, so moving forward I was like, ‘Nah, those are the roles I don’t want to play.’”
Chadwick Boseman concluded his speech by saying, “I stand here today knowing that my Howard University education prepared me to play Jackie Robinson, James Brown, Thurgood Marshall, and T’Challa.”
The Black Panther actor was indeed the best KING, Wakanda could ever have.
