Chadwick Boseman, known for embodying black icons like Jackie Robinson in “42,” James Brown in “Get on Up,” and King T’Challa in “Black Panther,” spoke out often about his faith.
The 43-year-old actor, who died of colon cancer on Aug. 28, grew up in a Christian home and was baptized at Welfare Baptist Church in Anderson, South Carolina. As a professing Christian — even at the height of his celebrity — Boseman often spoke out about his beliefs.
Boseman’s rise to stardom seemed fast, but it took time, effort, and trust in God’s faithfulness. He was helped, too, by beloved entertainer Denzel Washington, who paid for the late actor’s study abroad tuition at the British American Drama Academy more than 20 years ago.
In the days since his passing, Washington has described Boseman as “a gentle soul and a brilliant artist who will stay with us for eternity through his iconic performances over his short yet illustrious career.”
The “Black Panther” star referenced his Christian faith when he honored Washington in 2019. Speaking during the AFI Life Achievement Award ceremony, Boseman quoted Ephesians 3:20, telling Washington, “May God bless you exceedingly and abundantly more for what’s in store than He ever has before.”
And in 2018, when he delivered the commencement address at his alma mater, Howard University, Boseman referenced several Bible passages, including Jeremiah 29:11.
He told the graduating class:
Sometimes, you need to feel the pain and sting of defeat to activate the real passion and purpose God has predestined inside of you. God says in Jeremiah, ‘I know the plans I have for you. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future.’
Graduating class, hear me well on this day. … This day when you have reached the hilltop, and you are deciding on next jobs, next steps, careers, further education, you would rather find purpose than a job or career.
“When God has something for you, it doesn’t matter who stands against it,” he said later. “God will move someone that is holding you back away from the door and put someone there who will open it for you, if it’s meant for you. I don’t know what your future is. But if you’re willing to take the harder way, the more complicated one, the one with more failures at first than successes, the one that has ultimately proven to have more meaning, more victory, more glory, then you will not regret it.”
After learning of his death, Letitia Wright, one of Boseman’s “Black Panther” co-stars who has also been outspoken about her Christian faith, tweeted simply: “This hurts. Really hurts.”