The unexpected death of Chadwick Boseman has inspired countless tributes from friends, fans, and co-stars who mourn his death and celebrate his legacy. Many Hollywood figures have memorialized the actor, who died Aug. 28 at 43 years old after a private four-year battle with colon cancer, and some of the most beautiful remembrances have come from those who worked with Boseman on Black Panther. After heartfelt statements from Ryan Coogler, Letitia Wright, and more, Lupita Nyong’o is the latest member of the Black Panther family to express her grief.
Nyong’o, who played King T’Challa’s love interest Nakia in the film, penned a lengthy, moving tribute to her co-star in an Instagram post, alongside a photo of them together. She wrote about her struggle to process Boseman’s death, writing, “I am struggling to think and speak about my friend, Chadwick Boseman, in the past tense.” She described him as an “ageless” person with an “immortal energy.”
“Chadwick was a man who made the most of his time, and somehow also managed to take his time,” she went on. “I didn’t know him for long, but he had a profound effect on me in the time that I did. When we came together to make Black Panther, I remember being struck by his quiet, powerful presence.” She remembered Boseman as a person who “had no airs about him” and “commanded his time with ease.”
Nyong’o recalled their time together filming Black Panther, writing, “He showed up to every rehearsal and training and shoot day with his game face on. He was absorbent. Agile. He set the bar high by working with a generosity of spirit, creating an ego-free environment by sheer example, and he always had a warm gaze and a strong embrace to share.”
She also remembered him as a person who never complained, did his own stunts, mastered martial arts, and told “regrettably lame dad jokes.” She continued, “He took the risk to be alive, fully alive. So it seems that it was life that gave up on Chadwick long before Chadwick gave up on life.”
Nyong’o also wrote about Boseman’s legacy as a public figure. “He made damn sure that his life meant something,” she said. She summed it all up with a conclusion that everyone who was touched by Boseman’s work seems to agree on: “His power lives on and will reverberate for generations to come. He used his life force to tell meaningful stories. And now we tell his.”