He made his name playing one national idol after another in a series of biopics, including James Brown (“Get On Up,” 2014) and Thurgood Marshall (“Marshall,” 2017). But he consolidated his stardom with the role of His Majesty of Wakanda, T’Challa, in “Black Panther” in 2018.
The Marvel film became a cultural sensation – it was the first major superhero film with an African protagonist and the first to feature a mostly black cast – as well as one of the highest grossing films of all time. It was filmed in 2017, after Boseman received his diagnosis. (Marvel said T’Challa will not be overhauled in the sequel, “Black Panther 2”, due out in July 2022.)
On the Globe, Boseman defeated Riz Ahmed (“Som do Metal”), Anthony Hopkins (“O Pai”), Gary Oldman (“Mank”) and Tahar Rahim (“Mauritanian”).
Here is Simone Ledward’s full acceptance speech:
He would thank God. He would thank his parents. He would thank his ancestors for their guidance and sacrifices. He would thank his incredible team: Michael Greene, Azeem Chiba, Nicki Fioravante, Evelyn O’Neill, Chris Huvane, Logan Coles. He would thank his team on the set for this film: Deidra Dixon, Sian Richards, Craig Anthony and Andrew Carlone.
He would say something beautiful, something inspiring, something that would amplify that little voice within all of us that says you can, that tells you to continue, that calls you back to what you should be doing right now in history. He would thank Mr. George C. Wolfe, Mr. Denzel Washington, many people at Netflix. He would thank Ms. Viola Davis, Mr. Glynn Turman, Mr. Michael Potts, Mr. Colman Domingo, Ms. Taylour Paige, Mr. Dusan Brown.
And I don’t have your words. But we have to take every moment to celebrate those we love, so thank you, HFPA, for this opportunity to do just that. And dear, keep coming. Thanks.