The Paper's reporter Cheng Xiaojun
On August 28, local time, Chadwick Boseman, an African-American actor who became a household name for playing Marvel superhero "Black Panther", died of colon cancer at his home in Los Angeles at the age of 43.
Bosman had not previously announced his condition, and now through the announcement issued by his family, the outside world knows that he has been diagnosed with stage III colon cancer as early as four years ago. For the past four years, he has been undergoing treatment while filming these works, including "Black Panther" and "The Avengers". "He's a real warrior, he's always tenacious." "From 'Marshall' to 'Da 5 Bloods' to the yet-to-be-released 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom', these are all works he completed during his illness, and it's his work that he insisted on while undergoing various surgeries and chemotherapy," the family said in the announcement. Indeed, counting Chadwick Bosman's resume, the equivalent of seven of the fifteen films he has starred in was completed after he was diagnosed with cancer.
From a varsity basketball star to a late-blooming actor
Chadwick Bosman was born on November 29, 1976 in Anderson, Southern California, the third in his family, with two older brothers. The Bosmans are both African-American, their father works three shifts in the factory, and their mother is a nurse, so the family is not very well-off. In high school, Bosman was a basketball star on campus, but the unfortunate death of a teammate completely changed the trajectory of his life. The sad and painful Bosman wrote the sad story of his teammates who were shot and died into a script called "Crossroads", which was written and directed on the campus stage. And he himself turned at the crossroads of life, turning theatrical performance into his lifelong pursuit.
After graduating from high school, Bosman entered Howard University, a well-known traditional African-American private school in Washington, D.C., and under the training of her mentor and veteran American African actress Phylicia Rashad, Bosman switched from writing and directing to actor, and also won the golden opportunity to train in oxford summer drama classes.
After graduating from college, Bosman settled in Brooklyn, New York, and continued to pursue his theatrical dreams, while also working as a small supporting role in TV series such as "Crime Scene Investigation: New York" and "The Story of the Emergency Room". In 2012, he was selected from dozens of candidates to star in the film Legend 42 (42). The film tells the life story of Jackie Robinson, the first black player in the history of the Professional Baseball League. On April 15, 1947, Robinson wore the number 42 jersey and played for the Brooklyn Dodgers as a starting first baseman. Prior to this, black players were only allowed to play in black leagues. Although slavery in the United States had been abolished for a long time, there were still many areas where racial segregation was still practiced, and pervasive racial prejudice still strongly influenced all levels of society. Because of this, the day Robinson stepped onto the professional baseball stage is recognized as one of the most important events in the history of the modern civil rights movement in the United States. For Chadwick Bosman, the 36-year-old ushered in the first opportunity to play the male number one in his acting career, which can be regarded as a late success.
Jackie Robinson and Black Panther are important roles in Bosman's career as an actor
Chadwick Bosman seems to have an indissoluble relationship with the most important African-American celebrities in history. 2014's "Get on Up" gave Bosman the opportunity to play James Brown, the godfather of soul music. Coupled with Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American judge of the U.S. High Court in "Marshall", and The images of these historical real people played by Bosman, all of which are remarkable, they are also praised by Martin Luther King Jr.'s eldest son as "bringing the real history to life on the big screen".
The "Black Panther" image inspires a collective sense of young black people
Of course, Chadwick Bosman's most familiar character is definitely the Wakanda warrior "Black Panther". He began his appearance in Captain America: Civil War, released in 2016, and then became a protagonist in Black Panther, released in February 2018. Not only did the latter gross more than $1.3 billion worldwide, it was also the first Marvel movie to feature a black superhero, shattering Hollywood's previous misconception that black commercial films were doomed to sell out.
At the Academy Awards the following year, "Black Panther" became the first superhero film in history to be nominated for the Oscar for Best Picture, achieving a double harvest of business and word of mouth. Combined with the wave of minority affirmative action movements that have re-emerged in recent years, Chadwick Bosman and his interpretation of the "Black Panther" image have become the collective consciousness representatives of this generation of young Black Americans, with far-reaching social significance and cultural influence beyond the scope of commercial films.
However, at the same time as he became famous, Bosman himself may have known that there was little time left for him. In four years, his colon cancer has progressed from stage three to stage four, that is, terminal stage. At the end of April, Bosman, who was also trapped at home because of the epidemic, released an online video announcing that he would set up a public welfare fund to fight the epidemic and planned to donate millions of dollars to purchase protective equipment for black community hospitals across the United States.
Bosman, who has advanced cancer, and the image on the screen are similar to two people
In this video, Bosman's face has become quite emaciated, which attracted a large number of fans to leave messages at the time, concerning that he must take care of his body. A few days later, some netizens posted a photo of Bosman walking with a wooden stick near his home, according to the sticker netizens said that Bosman's whole person looked thinner than before, and it was estimated that he had lost at least forty pounds.
Bosman was photographed by netizens
However, because Bosman has been silent about this from beginning to end, the media and netizens mostly tend to think that he must be losing weight for a new role. After all, "Black Panther 2", which is expected to be released in May 2022, will not start filming until next year, and Bosman has time to get fat again. More importantly, everyone seems to have already equated Bosman himself with the Panther who has an incorruptible body in the movie, and no one will believe that he is in his prime, and he is terminally ill at this time.
On August 12, Kamala Harris, a black-blooded, was invited to become Biden's running mate, and Bosman posted a photo of himself with her on Twitter and Facebook, congratulating the latter on her nomination as a candidate for vice president. And that became Chadwick Bosman's last post on social media.
After the news of Chadwick Bosman's death, the whole of Hollywood and even American society was shocked. Biden, Kamala Harris and others have posted condolences one after another, and black actors such as Denzel Washington, Oprah, Jordan Peele, and Harley Berry have also written articles to remember this little brother with excellent acting skills and excellent character. Viola Davis, who played the female number one in her posthumous work "The Twist and Dance of Mother Rennie", also quoted a line from Shakespeare's Hamlet to say a final goodbye to Bosman: "Chadwick, without you, no words can express my inner pain." It is my honor to have the privilege of working with you and to know you. Farewell, dear prince. May the angels of the flock sing and send you rest. ”
Editor-in-charge: Cheng Yu
Proofreader: Zhang Liangliang