Lupita Nyong’o Penned A Heartbreaking Tribute To Black King Chadwick Boseman

Eleven days have passed since “Black Panther” actor Chadwick Boseman’s family announced he’d lost a years-long battle to colon cancer.

In that time, many of Boseman’s fans, family, and co-workers have spoken up to pay tribute to his talent and life. Still, Lupita Nyong’o, who co-starred alongside Boseman in “Black Panther” as his character’s love interest Nakia, has remained quite.

Until recently.

For the first time since his death, Nyong’o spoke out about Boseman’s death on Instagram.

“I write these words from a place of hopelessness, to honor a man who had great hope. I am struggling to think and speak about my friend, Chadwick Boseman, in the past tense. It doesn’t make sense. The news of his passing is a punch to my gut every morning,” she wrote. “I am aware that we are all mortal, but you come across some people in life that possess a immortal energy, that seem like they have existed before, that are exactly where they are supposed to always be – here! … that seem ageless… Chadwick was one of those people.”

Nyong’o shared that while she didn’t know Chadwick for long she will remember him forever.

“Chadwick was a man who made the most of his time, and somehow also managed to take his time,” she continued. “I didn’t know him for long, but he had a profound effect on me in the time that I did. When we came together to make Black Panther, 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. As a result, I noticed that Chadwick never seemed rushed! He commanded his time with ease.”

She went onto describe Boseman as a hard worker who showed up to every shoot “with his game face on.”

“He was absorbent. Agile. He set the bar high by working with a generosity of spirit, creating an ego-free environment by sheer example, and he always had a warm gaze and a strong embrace to share. His large hands would descend on my shoulders and give them a squeeze that relieved me of the tensions I did not realize I was holding. Chadwick’s hands were strong enough to carry the weight of the film and free enough to clasp mine when I needed it.”Ultimately, Nyong’o wrote, “it seems that it was life that gave up on Chadwick long before Chadwick gave up on life.”

The Oscar-winning actress appeared alongside Boseman in the Oscar-nominated film “Black Panther” which saw her play the role of Nakia, a War Dog for the nation of Wakanda and love interest of Boseman’s character T’Challa. While Boseman had long been an actor before his appearance in the Marvel Studios film, the role shot him to global fame.