Chadwick Boseman and Ryan Coogler in February 2018.Photo: Mike Marsland/WireImage
Ryan Coogleris remembering his final conversation withChadwick Boseman.
In an episode ofWakanda Forever: The Official Black Pantherpodcast that aired on Thursday,The Black Pantherdirectorrecalled his “last conversation"with the beloved actor, whodied of colon cancer in August 2020at the age of 43.
At the time, Coogler, 36, noted he was calling Boseman “to ask if he wanted to read [the script] before I got notes from the studio.”
“That was the last time we spoke. He passed maybe a couple of weeks after I finished,” he continued.
Ryan Coogler; Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa.Shareif Ziyadat/Getty; Marvel/Disney/Kobal/Shutterstock
Getting emotional over the memory, he said, “I could tell he was laying down when we were talking. He kicked [Taylor] Simone out because he told her he didn’t want her to hear anything that could get him in trouble with his NDA.”
“She didn’t want to leave. I could tell something was up,” he added.
Coogler said the late actor refused to read the script of the movie sequel claiming he did not want to get in the way of the studio’s notes.
“I found out later he was too tired to read anything,” Coogler recalled.
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In the following weeks, Coogler received a call from his manager Charles King to inform him about the death of Boseman.
“I didn’t want to believe it, so I called Denzel [Washington] and I spoke to him, and we thought it might be a rumor, so I texted Chad. I was in denial,” he explained of the moment.
“Everything about Chad was unique,” he continued. “How he lived and how he died was unique.”
Coogler previously directedFruitvale Station(2013),Creed(2015) and the firstBlack Panther(2018). He returns to direct the sequelBlack Panther: Wakanda Forever.
During an interview withEntertainment Weeklylast month, he sharedhe didn’t know if he could continue making moviesafter Boseman’s death.
“I was at a point when I was like, ‘I’m walking away from this business.’ I didn’t know if I could make another movie period, [let alone] anotherBlack Panthermovie, because it hurt a lot,” he told the outlet. “I was like, ‘Man, how could I open myself up to feeling like this again?’ "
In the days after Boseman’s death, Coogler was “poring over a lot of our conversations that we had, towards what I realized was the end of his life. I decided that it made more sense to keep going.”
He added, “There’s that idea of grief and intense emotion feeling like it comes in waves. Sometimes a wave can take you away where you lose control of it. You think you’re in control, but the water can always remind you that you’re not.”
Black Panther: Wakanda Foreverhits theaters Nov. 11.
source: people.com
