Lupita Nyong’o: ‘Cast of Black Panther sequel visited Chadwick Boseman’s grave before shooting’

Lupita Nyong’o says the cast of the upcoming ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ film visited the grave of Chadwick Boseman before shooting.

The actress, 39, who reprises her role as Nakia from 2018’s ‘Black Panther’, which starred Chadwick before his death in 2020, opened up about the tribute in an interview for the new issue of Ebony magazine.

She said: “We visited his resting place before we started filming and we had that moment as a cast.

“We went with the new cast who hadn’t met him as well. It was our way of continuing this journey.

“It really doesn’t feel like we have anything to prove to his spirit. I feel very, very centred about how we brought him along with us.

“(Director) Ryan (Coogler) had an artist make this necklace that has Chadwick’s image on it and he wore it every day. So he’s been with us, he knows what we did.”

Chadwick died aged 43 after being diagnosed with colon cancer in 2016, though he kept the diagnosis largely private, and Marvel insisted shortly after his death that they would not recast his ‘Black Panther’ character T’challa, saying they would instead dedicate the sequel to the late actor.

Lupita’s co-star in the follow up, Danai Gurira, 44, who will again play Okoye, said in Ebony about the impact of Chadwick’s passing: “There’s a grief navigation that we were going through as we were stepping back into living in this world without our leader, our King and our brother. That was a really specific journey to take in it.”

Letitia Wright, 29, who plays Shuri, added in the same joint interview: “I knew that he was in a better place, but I selfishly wanted him to still be here… with us, with me.

“But for myself, I use the film as a love letter to Chad. Every scene, every word I utter is with fullness and with life as he would want me to live it, you know, as he did live.”