Lupita Nyong’o was very much on Marvel’s side when the Hollywood studio decided against the idea of recasting the late Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa/Black Panther following his untimely death from colon cancer in August 2020. Boseman had been so private about his health battle that not even his closest industry peers and cast members were aware of just how poorly he’d been doing in the lead-up to his demise.
Nyong’o, who covers the latest issue of “The Hollywood Reporter,” tells the publication that while she’s aware that many people were open to the idea of having T’Challa recast and played by another actor, the actress said she didn’t “have the patience” to even consider that being a possibility. “That is not the death of the Black Panther, that’s the whole point.”
Lupita Nyong’o Forever.
The famously private actress opens up about coming to grips with stardom, the pressures of personifying Black beauty and the experience of making #BlackPanther: Wakanda Forever while grieving Chadwick Boseman https://t.co/X8k7Yfqzli pic.twitter.com/lOFUz61wRx
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) October 19, 2022
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“It’s laying to rest [T’Challa] and allowing for real life to inform the story of the movies. I know that there are all sorts of reasons why people want him to be recast, but I don’t have the patience. I don’t have the presence of mind, or I don’t have the objectivity to argue with that. I don’t. I’m very biased.” Nyong’o further recalled how she, too, was in the dark about Boseman’s health struggle, recounting how she had once tried to get him to join her on a press tour in South Africa following the release of “Black Panther,” a request which he vehemently refused, which she now knows was due to his cancer fight.
It was only after his passing that the “12 Years A Slave” star realized that Boseman refusing to go would have simply been rooted around his secret battle with cancer, something which he never disclosed with any of his cast members. Nyong’o expressed that she didn’t learn about her co-star’s death until hearing about the devastating news from actress Viola Davis.
Lupita Nyong’o photographed by Christian Cody for The Hollywood Reporter pic.twitter.com/PznOX4a5Rh
— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) October 19, 2022
She said that the text message left her in complete shock, adding, “I was paralyzed […] He affected how I move in the world. But that’s the thing about Chadwick. Chadwick wasn’t trying to have everyone be like him. What he inspired was you to be your best self. So how I’m going to lead a set is nowhere near — I’m not that person. I’m not Chadwick at all. I’ll never be.”
The original script for “Wakanda Forever” was rewritten following Boseman’s death and will include Wakanda’s mourning as a central part of the storyline. Nyong’o believes that the final treatment will not carry the story forward but also honor Boseman in the best way possible. “By the end, I was weeping,” she said.