Avengers: Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo were on hand for this weekend's CCXP event, and the filmmakers were asked for their thoughts on the recent death of Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman. They introduced his iconic take on T'Challa in 2016's Captain America: Civil War, and unknowingly worked with the actor while he was battling cancer.
"He had incredible integrity. He was very thoughtful, artistic, elegant human being that was just a pleasure to be around and a pleasure to work with," Joe Russo told Collider. "I don’t think he wanted his illness to become the story. He wanted Black Panther and this all-black cast to be the story. That's one of the bravest things that we've seen anyone do, that we've dealt with on a personal level."
Anthony would go on to recall what it was like working with Boseman during his earliest days in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, explaining that he spent a lot of time perfecting T'Challa's Wakandan accent and, "once he cracked that character and found that accent, he stayed in that accent through the entire shoot even when he was off-camera."
"He would only speak in that manner as T'Challa. I think that just speaks to the fact of how deeply he had built that character and how he had to hold onto that character through the entire process in order to perform it," Anthony continued. "It's just incredibly admirable when you find somebody who puts that level of their being and their focus and their entire effort into what they’re doing, and it translates to the screen. You feel something different when you watch him perform, not just as T’Challa but in all the roles."
"He was an incredible inspiration, an incredible human being, just the height of professionalism and artistry," the filmmaker concluded. "We're so grateful for our time with him."
Recently, a lot of tributes flooded in for Boseman on what would have been his 44th birthday. It's great to hear from the Russo Brothers, though, and the actor clearly meant a lot to them both.
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