Lupita Nyong’o Breaks Silence On Chadwick Boseman’s Passing: It’s A ‘Punch To My Gut’

Lupita Nyong’o took to Instagram to honor her late ‘Black Panther’ costar, Chadwick Boseman, remembering a man ‘who made the most of his time’ in an emotional, moving tribute.

Chadwick Boseman was honored with a heart-wrenching statement from his Black Panther costar, Lupita Nyong’o, roughly ten days after his tragic passing on August 28 at the age of 43, following a four-year battle with colon cancer. In the statement, shared to Instagram on September 8, the Oscar winner, 37, wrote her words “from a place of hopelessness,” but nevertheless wanted to “honor a man who had great hope.” Like so many of the people Chadwick touched in his time on Earth, Lupita shared that she is “struggling to think and speak about my friend, Chadwick Boseman, in the past tense. It doesn’t make sense.”

The actress continued, “the news of his passing is a punch to my gut every morning. I am aware that we are all mortal, but you come across some people in life that possess an immortal energy, that seem like they have existed before, that are exactly where they are supposed to always be — here,” she wrote, adding, “Chadwick was one of those people.”

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A Baobab has gone to rest! I’ve been patiently waiting for @lupitanyongo to eulogise #ChadwickBoseman and even as I waited, I felt the weightiness of what this loss must feel like in her bones. And yet like balm her words soothe, they venerate, the extol and they bid à dieu to a brother, to a friend. They do something else though, they remind us of Chads calling and how through his service to us we are charged to walked in the fullness of our own purpose and power, whatever that might be. Thank you Lupita, may God comfort you, the Dora Milaje, Simone and all of Chads inner circle. Sun re Ancestor Chadwick Boseman, rest in peace and power!

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Lupita described the actor, with whom she starred alongside as his love interest and fellow Wakanda warrior in the Oscar-winning 2018 film, as “a man who made the most of his time, and somehow also managed to take his time. I didn’t know him for long, but he had a profound effect on me in the time that I did,” she said. The actress then reflected on their time filming Marvel’s epic, saying, “I remember being struck by his quiet, powerful presence. He had no airs about him, but there was a higher frequency that he seemed to operate from. You got the sense that he was fully present and also somehow fully aware of things in the distant future,” she continued.

As a tribute to his lasting impact on her life, Luptia illustrated to readers that when she was “around Chadwick, I wanted to be better, less petty, more purposeful…He was fueled by love, not fear,” she added. “He moved quietly, deliberately and without imposing himself or his ideals on others. And yet he also made damn sure that his life meant something.” During his career, Chadwick played iconic Black figures including Jackie Robinson in 42, Thurgood Marshall in Marshall, and James Brown in the biopic Get On Up.

In closing her emotional tribute, Lupita wrote, “Chadwick’s death is something that I can neither take in nor take in my stride right now. Perhaps with time…I’m going to take my time…and in his honor, I promise not to waste my time.” Lupita captioned her moving statement, “for the beloved” adding the hashtags “Chadwick Boseman” and “Take Your Time But Don’t Waste Your Time.”