Hollywood actor Letitia Wright, who became a Marvel breakout with her performance in 'Black Panther' as T'Challa's sister Shuri, has revealed that she felt her late costar Chadwick Boseman's presence while making the highly anticipated sequel.
Wright is set to reprise her role in 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever', which was filmed after Boseman's death from colon cancer in August 2020 at the age of 43. The film's actors Wright, Winston Duke and Tenoch Huerta spoke to People magazine at the D23 Expo on Saturday about honouring Boseman, who played the titular superhero and expanding the franchise's scope.
"I will always have moments on set of doubt, and I'll be like, 'Oh man, I don't know if I can do this.' I could just hear [Boseman] be like, 'Sister, you're great. You got this. I'm proud of you.' That really just kept me moving forward," recalled Wright, reported People magazine.
According to the outlet, Duke added, "He was always a very quietly powerful person. Sometimes you don't realize the extent, the amount of space people like that take up until they're not there. He was one of those people that led by example, and just led by always showing up and putting his best foot forward every day."
"You don't realize that this movie wasn't as playful in between takes as the first one. When Chadwick was around we were rapping and laughing. It just wasn't the same dynamic," said Duke, who plays M'Baku in the movies, as per People magazine.
Boseman's impact is still deeply ingrained in popular culture. His breakthrough performance in 'Black Panther' made that movie the first superhero movie to be nominated for best picture at the Academy Awards.
'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever', directed by Ryan Coogler, will introduce Riri Williams, the teenage genius who becomes the hero Ironheart. The movie is due to hit theatres on November 11, 2022, as per Variety.
Sagar Arya
Irvine Iqbal
