Chadwick Boseman tears up in video as he recalls meeting young fans with terminal cancer

Fans across the globe were shocked when news of Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman’s death was revealed Friday night.

Now, a clip from a 2018 interview with Sway Calloway and the cast of Black Panther has resurfaced that shows Boseman speaking movingly about two young fans he met who had terminal cancer.

The actor, who died at age 43, had been diagnosed with his own cancer in 2016, two years before he tearfully recited the story of the boys.

Boseman recounted meeting ‘two little kids,’ Ian and Taylor, with whom he was staying in touch throughout the production of Black Panther, which was released in February 2018.

‘What they said to me, and what their parents said, they’re just trying to hold on until this movie comes,’ he recounted.

The Da 5 Bloods actor said that knowledge spurred him on to work harder on Black Panther.

‘It’s a humbling experience because you’re like, “This can’t mean that much to them,” you know?’ he said. ‘But seeing how the world has taken us on, seeing how the movement is, how it’s taken on a life of its own, I realized that they anticipated something great.’

Boseman was overcome with tears as he recalled that the two boys had both died before they were able to see the completed film.

‘When I found out that they…’ he began before let out a long sigh and pushing back from the microphone while his costars Lupita Nyong’o and Danai Gurira both tried to comfort him he.

After along pause, he spoke again as tears rolled down his cheeks.

‘Yeah, it means a lot,’ he said, before the video cut out. 

Boseman’s family announced Friday night via his social media accounts that the actor had died.

In their note, they wrote that he had been ‘diagnosed with stage III colon cancer in 2016,’ which later ‘progressed to stage IV.’

‘A true fighter, Chadwick persevered through it all, and brought you many of the films you have come to love so much.’

The actor’s family also confirmed that many of his greatest movie roles were filmed ‘during and between countless surgeries and chemotherapy.’

In June, he appeared in Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods as a fallen soldier who was killed in Vietnam. Decades later, his squad mates return to find his body and give him a proper burial, while also stealing a supply of gold that was left with him. 

‘It was the honor of his career to bring King T’Challa to life in Black Panther,’ the statement said. ‘The family thanks you for your love and prayers, and asks that you continue to respect their privacy during this difficult time.’ 

Boseman is survived by his wife Taylor Simone Ledward and a parent and had no children, his publicist said.

The couple were first linked in 2019 and had secretly married, which wasn’t reported until after his death.

Boseman resisted mentioning his cancer diagnosis in his final years, though many fans became concerned after seeing photos of him looking unusually gaunt.

Later on Friday, a Twitter user named Brian Hammond tweeted that one of the boys mentioned by Chadwick in his 2018 was his late son Taylor.

‘Chadwick was talking about my son when he broke down and cried. He was heartbroken that Taylor didn’t get to see the finished product. When all of the world’s eyes were on him, his heart & mind was on our angel,’ he wrote, adding the hashtags ‘#RIPKing,’ ‘#FightOn’ and ‘#ForTaylor.’ 

He followed it up with a short video message sent to Taylor which was edited with footage of his son gushing over getting to hear from the Avenger.

After introducing himself as ‘T’Challa, a.k.a. Black Panther,’ the actor said, ‘A good friend of mine was just telling me how courageous and how strong you are,’ before wishing him a pleasant holiday weekend.

Taylor gushed in the follow-up clip from the back of a car while thanking the actor for sending Black Panther items, while wishing Chadwick love from the rest of his family.