Ryan Coogler is currently working on the second installment of the Black Panther and he is speaking on what it’s like filming without Chadwick Boseman.
Coogler was working on the script for the second film when Boseman passed away at the age of 43 after his four-year battle with colon cancer. During that time, Coogler said that “it’s difficult” working on the sequel without Boseman.
“You’ve got to keep going when you lose loved ones. I know Chad wouldn’t have wanted us to stop. He was somebody who was so about the collective,” Coogler said. He continued, “Black Panther, that was his movie. He was hired to play that role before anybody else was even thought of before I was hired before any of the actresses were hired.”
Coogler admitted that he didn’t know that Boseman was battling cancer while filming Black Panther. “I didn’t know what was going on. I knew what he wanted me to know. I miss him in every way that you could miss somebody, as a friend, as a collaborator. And it sucks because I love watching movies, and I don’t ger to watch the next thing he would have made.”
He continued, “So it’s grief on a lot of levels, but then, it’s a deep sense of gratitude because I can close my eyes and hear his voice.”