Chadwick Boseman lived his life as if there was no tomorrow, which causes his fans and colleagues to shudder now because the acting great and humanitarian passed away on Friday, Aug. 28, 2020.
But while Boseman was steadily compiling one of the most impressive acting portfolios in modern Hollywood history, he did so while in tremendous pain because of his advanced colon cancer, according to a member of his inner circle.
Even more remarkable is that virtually no one outside of those who orbited Boseman’s life even had an inkling that anything was wrong with the Black Panther star. This was deliberate, says Boseman’s former agent, Michael Greene of Greene & Associates Talent Agency.
Greene explained to the Hollywood Reporter that Boseman’s mother and father, Carolyn and Leroy Boseman, raised their son “not to have people fuss over him.”
“He also felt in this business that people trip out about things, and he was a very, very private person,” Greene added.
Greene revealed that Boseman, 43, “was really in hard-core pain” but was not about to miss the chance to perform alongside the crème de la crème of Hollywood — Oscar winners Denzel Washington and Viola Davis — in the Netflix movie Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, which is based on August Wilson’s play.
“He felt that being able to be with Washington and to launch this cycle of [playwright] August Wilson at Netflix was so exciting to him,” Greene said.
Boseman, the Hollywood Reporter states, was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer in 2016 and it, unfortunately, was upgraded to stage 4 in 2018. According to WebMD, in stage 3, the cancer had already grown through the colon wall, and in stage 4, it had spread beyond his colon.
Many fans were startled by a 2019 Instagram photo of Boseman, who appeared emaciated, but quickly dismissed any concern, thinking that the talented thespian was likely preparing for another role.
Flip the page to learn what Boseman’s trainer had to say.
