Denzel Washington recalls telling Chadwick Boseman to marry his wife

Before his untimely passing from colon cancer earlier this year, Chadwick Boseman always said there would never be a Black Panther without Denzel Washington. After all, Denzel unknowingly helped fund part of Boseman’s schooling through a grant back in the day. Well, as it turns out, without Denzel, Boseman might not have gotten hitched, either.

In a new interview with CBS News Washington opened up about producing what wound up being Boseman’s final film, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. In the anticipated adaptation of August Wilson’s 1984 play, Boseman stars as Levee, a musician working with the title performer (played by Viola Davis). What no one knew on the set was that Boseman was secretly fighting cancer every single day while filming.

“Well, credit to him; he kept it to himself,” Washington told the outlet. “It was nobody’s business. He was there to deliver and he delivered. Certain members of his team knew. His wife was there. They weren’t even married yet. And I used to watch how she took care of him, and I actually said to him, I said, ‘Man, you know, you need to put a ring on that finger,’ ’cause she kept her eye on him and she watched him. And I’m like, ‘Man, she loves that guy.’ You know, but I didn’t know what we know now.”

Boseman and Taylor Simon Ledward married just months before he passed away on August 28 at the age of 43. His death prompted public heartbreak from many who knew him, worked with him, or idolized him for his role as T’Challa, AKA Black Panther in the Marvel universe. It was a role that producers won’t even try to recast. “He did all he could do with what he was given, and he left it here for us to enjoy,” Washington said. “Chad will live forever. Period.”

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This isn’t the first time Washington has opened up about Boseman following his death. Earlier this year at the Toronto International Film Festival, the actor, director and producer recalled his first meeting with Boseman at the New York premiere for Black Panther, and recalled shedding a tear over his performance. “A gentle man. A very, very gentle soul, a great talent, obviously. Thrust in this position,” Washington recalled. “Who knew he didn’t have much life left? But he didn’t get cheated. We did. He didn’t get cheated. We did. I pray for his poor wife and their family. They got cheated. But he lived a full life.”

Just last week, Boseman’s Ma Rainey costar Davis also opened up about his lasting legacy. “Oh my god, it’s unbelievable what he was able to achieve while he was going through this sort of devastating diagnosis in terms of probably what his body was going through,” she said. “In terms of emotionally what he was going through, but he was able to channel all of that into an amazing performance and a performance that served the role, that wasn’t about his pain or whatever he was going through… Someone who literally served what August Wilson left on his page, and he left it all on the floor.”

Those sentiments of greatness were echoed earlier this month when Robert Downey Jr. and Don Cheadle appeared virtually at the MTV Movie & TV Awards to present the actor with a posthumous Hero For the Ages award. “Each time he stepped on the set he inspired and influenced everyone there. And with every role he created a new legion of fans,” Cheadle said. “He had an incredible power to unify people in their love for his work, in their respect for him as a person. The way he lived his life united people for a higher purpose, and that will be his legacy.”

BEFORE YOU GO: Zookeeper shares adorable videos of affectionate zoo animals 

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