Lupita Nyong’o Pens Tribute to Chadwick Boseman on Three-Year Anniversary of His Death

Lupita Nyong’o is honoring her late “Black Panther” co-star Chadwick Boseman.

Academy Award nominee Boseman died of pancreatic cancer on August 28, 2020. Oscar winner Nyong’o took to Instagram to share fond memories with the beloved late actor.

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“Three years ago today, I experienced a singular pain at the news of Chadwick Boseman’s death,” Nyongo’o wrote. “The confusion was so profound that it took months to trust the feeling of joy again.”

She continued, “This is a photo I took on film at the airport as we arrived in South Korea in 2018. We had just learned to do the baby heart with our fingers. Here Chadwick was adding his suave flare. We spent a glorious 72 hours there, and the memory fills me with so much joy.”

The “12 Years a Slave” star added, “Death is hard to understand, maybe even harder to accept. But the love generated from the life he lived will fuel every anniversary marking his absence. Chadwick may no longer be in our photos, but he will always be in our hearts.”

Boseman was not recast in Marvel sequel “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” which was Oscar-nominated after premiering in 2022. “His passing is still extremely raw for me,” Nyong’o said in 2021 of returning to the franchise without Boseman in the lead role. “But at the same time we have a leader in [writer-director] Ryan [Coogler], who feels very much like we do, who feels the loss in a very, very real way as well. And his idea, the way which he has reshaped the second movie is so respectful of the loss we’ve all experienced as a cast and as a world. So it feels spiritually and emotionally correct to do this. And hopefully, what I do look forward to, is getting back together and honoring what he started with us and holding his light through it. Because he left us a lot of light that we’re still going to be bathing in. I know that for sure.”

“Wakanda Forever” went on to be nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actress for Angela Bassett. The film won Best Costume Design, following its previous win for “Black Panther.”

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