Viola Davis has recently remembered Chadwick Boseman as she reflects on her working experience with the late actor on his last movie, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
In a new interview with The Times, the actress revealed that no one on set knew about Chadwick was sick due to colon cancer treatment. He passed away on August 28, 2020, after a four-year colon cancer battle.
Viola, who played blues singer Ma Rainey in the movie, recalled seeing Chadwick getting prepped on set to play Levee Green.
The Woman King star revealed that Chadwick’s wife, Taylor Simone Ledward, and his make-up artist rubbing the actor’s back and playing meditative music.
“There was a part of me that was a little judgmental — why do you need all that?” said the 59-year-old.
She added, “Little did I know that they were doing it because he was dying.”
For the unversed, Black Bottom was premiered on Netflix nearly four months after Chadwick’s tragic death. The late actor earned a posthumous win for best male actor in a leading role at the 2021 Screen Actors Guild Awards and his first Oscar nomination.
Earlier in a 2020 interview with Yahoo Entertainment, Viola got emotional while talking about Chadwick’s demise.
“Lord knows we all would’ve wanted him to live another 50 years. We all want longevity,” she remarked.
The Help actor further said, “I can’t see his life tragically at all. … Because I felt like he was always living in the moment, squeezing out every bit of life.”
“What it makes me think is, it’s not the quantity, it’s the quality. What I hold onto with Chad is that he lived his life his way,” stated Viola.
Meanwhile, Viola’s next movie, G20, will be released on Prime Video on April 10.
