Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o delivered a heartfelt tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman, her Black Panther co-star, at the BFI London Film Festival.
During a career retrospective Q&A, the organisers played a clip from the Black Panther film, which saw Nyong’o star as Nakia opposite Boseman’s King T’Challa. As the scene played, Nyong’o admitted she had not revisited the film since Boseman’s passing in 2020. “I haven’t seen the film since Chadwick died,” she confessed before her voice broke with emotion. Composing herself, she added, “The grief is just the love. There’s no place to put it. I don’t run away from the tears or the grief. You just live with it.”
Boseman died of colon cancer at the age of 43, shocking the world with the revelation that he had been battling the disease privately for four years. His final projects, including Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, were filmed while the actor was undergoing various surgeries and chemotherapy, the impressive performances being a testament to his strength and perseverance.
Nyong’o, who played Boseman’s love interest in Black Panther, shared that the film’s memory is both painful and comforting. “I don’t know whether I’ll ever be done shedding my tears from losing my friend, but I’m also like, wow, we get to see him [in the film]. We get to see him alive. And that’s so wonderful,” she said.
Nyong’o also revealed how she became involved in the Marvel project, explaining that she had initially been in talks for another superhero role before director Ryan Coogler reached out with his vision for Wakanda. “He walked me through this story about this fictional African country and his idea of making it even more politically astute and relevant than the comic book that it was based off of,” she recalled.
Her initial reaction was disbelief: “Wait – this is a Marvel movie? This is Disney?” When Coogler assured her that the studio was fully on board, Nyong’o knew they were creating something extraordinary.
The release of the Black Panther trailer changed everything, despite the initial trepidation of Marvel executives. “Marvel was shaking a little bit in their boots as the release date came closer. But then the trailer dropped, and we were like, ‘Whaaaat this is huge!’” Nyong’o remembered. “I remember we were in a group chat, sharing memes and saying, look at how the world is responding.”
The film went on to surpass the $1 billion box office milestone in just 26 days, becoming a cultural landmark and a source of pride for audiences worldwide.
On the fourth anniversary of Boseman’s death, Nyong’o also took to social media to honour her late co-star. She shared two photographs—one of Boseman alone and another of the two of them together—captioned with a moving quote: “Grief never ends. But it changes. It is a passage, not a place to stay. Grief is not a sign of weakness, nor a lack of faith. It’s the price of love.” She concluded her post with the words: “Remembering Chadwick Boseman. Forever.”
Her reflections echo the deep sense of loss felt across Hollywood and among fans who admired Boseman not only for his performances but also for his dignity and courage.
The conversation at the London Film Festival also highlighted Nyong’o’s career milestones, from her feature debut in 12 Years a Slave to her Academy Award win in 2014. She recounted that just a year before her Oscar triumph, she had been watching the ceremony from home in her pajamas. “Until I went to drama school I’d never watched the Oscars,” she said with a laugh, recalling how she and classmates would gather for viewing parties.
Her historic win made her one of only ten Black women to receive an acting Oscar, a responsibility she takes seriously. “It was really surreal,” she reflected. “And then learning about the history — Hattie McDaniel and how she had to come through the back [entrance] — it was just like, wow. To be a part of that, of course, means a lot to me as a Black woman, as an immigrant.”
Nyong’o is now promoting her latest film, the animated feature The Wild Robot, where she voices the lead character. She revealed that the role took a physical toll on her, as she developed a vocal cord polyp from sustained performance and had to remain silent for three months to recover
