Chadwick Boseman has been awarded as the best actor at the just ended virtual Golden Globe awards night and his wife, Taylor Simone Ledward accepted the award in an emotional speech.
This is Chadwick Boseman’s first Golden Globe, and unfortunately, it was for a film he never got to see. It is also worth noting that, Boseman is the first Black winner in the category in nearly 15 years since, Forest Whitaker won at the 2007 ceremony for his performance as Idi Amin in ‘The Last King of Scotland’. The honor also makes Boseman the first Black posthumous winner in an acting category.
Boseman’s wife, Taylor Simone Ledward, accepted the award for ‘Best actor in a motion picture drama’ on behalf of the late actor, who died in August of colon cancer at age 43, three months before the last movie he acted, ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’ was released.
Speculating what Chadwick would have said if he was alive to accept the award, she said: “He would thank God. He would thank his parents. He would thank his ancestors for their guidance and their sacrifices. He would thank his incredible team: Michael Greene, Azeem Chiba, Nicki Fioravante, Evelyn O’Neill, Chris Huvane, and Logan Coles. He would thank his team on set for this film: Deidra Dixon, Sian Richards, Craig Anthony, and Andrew Carlone”.
She further noted that “he would say something beautiful, something inspiring, something that would amplify that little voice inside of all of us that tells you can, that tells you to keep going, that calls you back to what you are meant to be doing at this moment in history”.
Simone concluded by saying that: “I don’t have his words but we have to take all the moments to celebrate those we love. So, thank you H.F.P.A for this opportunity to do exactly that and honey, you keep them coming. Thank you”.
This was the first Golden Globe win for the actor, who got a relatively late start in his career before breaking through at age 35 with his first role in a studio film, playing Jackie Robinson in ’42’ in 2013.
He made his name playing one national idol after another in a series of movies, including James Brown, ‘Get On Up’ in 2014, and Thurgood Marshall, ‘Marshall’ in 2017. However, he cemented his stardom with the role of His Majesty of Wakanda himself, T’Challa, in ‘Black Panther’ in 2018.
That Marvel film became a cultural sensation as it was the first major superhero movie with an African protagonist and the first to feature a majority Black cast. It is one of the highest-grossing films of all time. It was shot in 2017 after Boseman received his diagnosis, and Marvel has said T’Challa will not be recast in the sequel, ‘Black Panther 2’ slated for release in July 2022.
