Colman Domingo is looking back on the encouraging words the late Chadwick Boseman shared with him. The moment occurred years before the two eventually became co-stars in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Domingo, 56, recalled reconnecting with Boseman at a Hollywood party after the release of Black Panther in 2018.
”I’m so proud of all your success and everything you’re doing. It’s so beautiful to watch your ascension.”
Domingo said that Boseman began to laud his acting skills.
“He literally looked at me like this, [and he] said: ‘Y’all need to know this guy right here. This guy is the truth,” Domingo said. “He said, ‘No, I’m telling you, know Colman Domingo’s name. I was like, ‘Oh no, no.’ He said, ‘No, I’m telling you, know Colman Domingo’s name. I know this man. Keep your eye on him.’ ”
In 2020, shortly before Boseman’s passing, they both starred in Netflix’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
“He had huge hands, and he would point his finger at me and say, ‘I can’t wait to dance with you,”Domingo shared. “Oh, we’re gonna dance. We’re gonna dance,’ ”
Domingo also recalled the somber moment he learned of Boseman’s passing during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. He was outside grilling burgers when a text from playwright Robert O’Hara delivered the shocking news/ Boseman had died of colon cancer at 43, having kept his years-long battle with the disease private.
“Of my contemporaries who really come from my experience, whether it’s growing up in the inner city or just being an African American man, there’s not a lot of men who hold that space in this rare air,” Domingo said of the late actor. “Not many who you can ask, ‘When I go through this part, what should I look out for? How should I advocate for myself? Or, for others?’ Chadwick had been one of them.”