'Black Panther' cast on coming back for a sequel without Chadwick Boseman
Some of the stars of 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,' Winston Duke, Florence Kasumba, Alex Livinalli and Mabel Cadena, discussed how they honored the late Chadwick Boseman with this movie.
Video Transcript
- I am queen of the most powerful nation in the world! And my entire family is gone! Have I not given everything?
KEVIN POLOWY: I mean, I can't imagine how emotional it was for you guys to return to the set after the loss that we endured. What did you guys-- how difficult were especially those first few days on set? And what did you guys do to pay tribute to Chad?
WINSTON DUKE: Honestly, we paid tribute to Chadwick every single day with every breath and every word in every scene. It didn't stop being hard just after the first day. It was the entire almost year shoot. Because of COVID restrictions and everything else that happened, we had a very long shoot.
And every single day was tough because that was not just our cohort and coworker. He was our friend. You know, he's a human being. We got to know him as a human being and not as a superstar, not as just an actor. We got to know him as a person. So we miss our person. And every single day we were reminded of it.
FLORENCE KASUMBA: At the end of the day, we are a group of people that trust each other. And you feel when somebody needs support. And we had that. And it happened sometimes in certain scenes that you film or on certain days. Or for me, any time I would go to work or any time I'd speak about the "Black Panther," whether it's the first movie or the second, I always think of Chadwick. And that hurts.
But it also makes me happy that I was able to work with him and that I was able to learn so much from him. And that's just how we have to continue. We will never forget him. But what he brought to the MCU and to Wakanda is something that we want to continue. We want to be strong and fierce and be honest and tell the story and entertain people and make people think, you know.
ALEX LIVINALLI: Was present every time throughout the whole shoot. You know, you would hear stories from the crew, from the cast how Chad was, his personality, the things that he would do. So I didn't get a chance to meet him. But in a way, I felt like I knew him through all of that. And the movie, you know, it's-- I'm sure he'd be happy that we continue.
MABEL CADENA: And for him, we are here, absolutely.
ALEX LIVINALLI: He opened these doors.
WINSTON DUKE: And you know, I think there's a lot of great, beautiful integrity in what we did. And even just finishing what we did and being able to share it with you guys, the emotion of seeing that trailer and watching you guys watch that trailer and also just realize that you guys have your own grief that you're going through without him, it was really edifying. And it really made us feel like not only are we family on stage, but we're family with you guys, the fans.
