BLACK PANTHER: THE 'WEIRD SIGNS' THAT LED CHADWICK BOSEMAN TO WAKANDA.
BLACK PANTHER:
THE 'WEIRD SIGNS' THAT LED CHADWICK BOSEMAN TO WAKANDA.
Hey there, welcome to my blog. I hope you are doing
well. Well, eliot is always fine. Anyways, did you know that before chadwick
boseman, the late took on the role of black panther, someone had already told
him he would! Please read on and find out more in this post.
The man who first told Chadwick Boseman he would play
the role of Black Panther - before Boseman even knew the film would be made -
was an Australian bodyguard and comic collector, Charles Carter. It was a story
Boseman told more than once, though Carter himself has remained silent until
now.
It was
September 2014 when Marvel studios called Chadwick Boseman. He was in Zurich
promoting Get On Up, a biopic where he played soul legend James Brown. Just the
day before Boseman had decided to upgrade his phone plan to include
international calls, even though he wasn't expecting one.
But suddenly
his agent told him Marvel was looking to speak to him - the production house
responsible for producing $100m films based on Marvel Comic characters
including Spiderman and Captain America.
Such was the
secrecy surrounding the project that the Marvel executive at the end of the
line didn't even say the name of the iconic character they wanted Chadwick Boseman
to play.
"We want
you to play a role and we think you know what the role is. Are you
interested?"
Boseman's
driver had pulled up outside an antique shop while he took the call. Looking
out of the car at the display window of the shop, Boseman saw several panther
statues in a line facing him.
The offer was
for him to play Black Panther, prince of Wakanda, in Captain America: Civil War
and then to star in the film Black Panther itself, this time as the king of the
African kingdom.
Boseman
recounted this story in 2016 to a gasping audience on Jimmy Kimmel Live, during
a press tour ahead of the release of Captain America: Civil War. But there was
also another story that the actor wanted to share.
Looking at the
audience and then at the television camera, Chadwick Boseman smiled and said,
"Charles Carter, you were right. Come out wherever you are!"
Charles Carter
first met Chadwick Boseman on the lot of the Fox studio in Sydney, Australia,
when the actor was filming Gods of Egypt, a fantasy about ancient Egyptian
deities. Carter had been employed in security for over 20 years and was working
as the bodyguard of one of the film's leads.
But he
instantly hit it off with the actor playing Thoth, the God of Wisdom - it was
early 2014 and Chadwick Boseman, then 37, was gaining momentum as someone who
could carry big Hollywood roles, like that of African American baseball legend
Jackie Robinson in the film 42.
Carter and
Boseman bonded over their love of martial arts, kung fu and boxing. Between
takes, the two would dissect and analyse the style and technique of boxer Floyd
Mayweather. The make-up artists would then reprimand Carter for play-fighting
with Boseman.
"You're
getting him sweaty," they'd warn.
When the two
talked, Boseman mainly spoke about his family and cousins in South Carolina. It
was clear to Carter that Boseman's world, and those he trusted, were a tight
circle.
"He wasn't
'Hollywood'," says Carter.
"He was
friendly and calm, but he didn't have fake familiarity with people.
"He never
said it openly, but I don't think he liked people he didn't know calling him
'brother', except for me.
"When he
heard people on set that he didn't know so well call him 'brother', he turned
around and gave a very subtle, very calm look that said, 'Slow down, we're not
this kind of close.'
"He owned
himself, he was friendly to everyone, all crew on set."
He also had a
regal authority that made people listen to him, Carter says.
What happened
next would be repeated by Chadwick Boseman in media interviews two years later.
In 2016, on the
American chat show Live with Kelly and Michael, Boseman said "there were
weird signs" that he was going to get the role.
"I got in
a conversation with the security on set for this movie Gods of Egypt in
Australia," he said. "And we didn't really talk that much about Black
Panther but he put the first issue of Black Panther in my trailer, his original
issue of Black Panther from when he was a kid, and wrote a note in it to say
'You're going to get this role.'"
"Oh my
God," responded the host, Kelly Ripa.
"There was
no sign that Marvel was even going to do a Black Panther movie or even bring
the Black Panther into the Marvel universe then," Boseman continued,
"but it became a thing that built in my head."
The actor would
repeat the story to US presenter Jimmy Kimmel, this time turning to the camera
and naming Charles Carter as the planter of the seed. Carter was in his car in
Sydney when he heard the interview played back on an Australian radio station.
He smiled, and recalled one of their last conversations on set.
"If they
ever do a Black Panther movie, that comic book will be worth a lot,"
Boseman had told Carter.
"No, it's
a good luck charm to stay with you forever," Carter replied. Then he added
jokingly, "Just don't forget me when you're a superstar!"
After filming
wrapped up in Australia, there was criticism of Boseman's character in Gods of
Egypt, that it was a flattened stereotype of a magical black character.
In an interview
with GQ magazine, Boseman said he agreed with the criticism, but added that he
had to accept the role because "people don't make $140m movies starring
black and brown people".
But the $200m
Black Panther movie was already being discussed in Marvel offices. At the Black
Panther launch press conference, Marvel producer Kevin Feige said that Chadwick
Boseman was their one and only choice for the role.
After it was
announced that Black Panther was to be filmed and Boseman publicly acknowledged
him, Carter declined interviews.
"I'm
obviously not responsible for Chad and Black Panther," he says. "Chad
did it. It was all his merit, his skill, his beauty, his amazing talent. He did
it all and I didn't want him to think I was trying to take credit just by giving
him a gift."
But nine days
before the world debut of Black Panther, Boseman messaged Carter.
"I know
it's last minute. The tickets are hard to come by for this premiere, even for
me. If you happen to be on this side of the pond on the 29th I have one for
you."
As it turned out, Carter was that side of the pond, he was working in Las Vegas.
After the film
screening at Dolby Theatre, Boseman invited Carter to the afterparty where
Carter met Boseman's family and the cast of Black Panther.
"It was a
gas," Carter says. "While there was almost everyone you could
recognise from a magazine there, it was clear that Chad's attention was on his
parents and family. He knew who mattered."
This was the
last time Carter saw Boseman.
"At the
premiere I thought he was moving a little slow and deliberate," says
Carter. "I thought maybe he took a Valium as it was a big event. He was
totally lucid talking to people coming up to congratulate him, but now maybe I
think he may have been on meds for his cancer at the time.
"He was
thinking a lot I thought."
He was smiling
a lot too though, relishing the success of the film that would go on to make
over $1bn in box offices worldwide, and putting a nail in the myth that
black-led films were too niche to be blockbusters.
The film became
a cultural touchpoint, and the first Marvel Comic Universe offering to win an
Academy Award.
Boseman had
been diagnosed with colon cancer two years before the film was released, but it
was not something he shared, even with other members of the cast.
Carter had no
idea himself, and he is reluctant to give details of the moment he heard the
news or the last conversation the two of them had.
But he knows
that what Chadwick Boseman did for representation is huge.
"My friend
showed that it's possible to have diverse, strong and powerful leads that are
box office wins," he says. "And when one person does that, it will
give inspiration for many others to follow."
That said, he
doesn't want to see anyone else in Boseman's role.
"No-one
else can be the Black Panther now. Wakanda can live, but not King T'Challa.
Writers should think of developing other leads, strong women, strong people of
colour. Not replace Chadwick Boseman, because that is not possible."
OKELLO ELIOT OTWAO
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