How Chadwick Boseman got Michael B Jordan into 'All My Children' and how their friendship fueled 'Black Panther'
Wakanda forever. These words reverberate louder than ever today as Chadwick Boseman, star of 'Black Panther' and films like 'Da 5 Bloods', died at the age of 43 after battling colon cancer for over four years. The film fraternity along with his close friends, family and millions of fans around the world are finding it difficult to come to terms with the void he has left behind. Videos of the actor's graceful and dignified answers at press conferences, as well as Saturday Night Live sketches are going viral. His Marvel co-stars are busy remembering the days they worked with him in films such as 'Black Panther', 'Avengers: Infinity War' and 'Endgame'.
While many remember their close friendship with him, we take this chance to recall his relationship with actor Michael B Jordan from 'All My Children' days to 'Black Panther' times. Both actors have been leads in a number of films in recent times but their beginnings were not as grand, and they go way back to 2003. 16-year-old Jordan joined the cast of the ABC soap opera 'All My Children' in the role of Reggie Porter, after taking over from Boseman, who was fired from the show as he refused to play a racial stereotype.
"It’s one of those things where you get a role, and you don’t really know,” Boseman had earlier said. “When I got it, I was like, ‘This is not part of my manifesto. This is not part of what I want to do. How can I make it work?’ Because with a soap opera, you don’t know the full scope of what’s gonna happen — you don’t know where they’re gonna take the character, because they don’t always know where the character is going. And because of that, there’s possibly room for me to adjust this and change it and make it so it’s stereotypical on the page but not on the screen.”
Boseman did not appreciate the way Reggie Porter was written using racial stereotypes. He spoke up about it. "I remember going home and thinking, ‘Do I say something to them about this? Do I just do it?’ And I couldn’t just do it,” Boseman said. “I had to voice my opinions and put my stamp on it. And the good thing about it was, it changed it a little bit for [Jordan]. They said, ‘You are too much trouble,’ but they took my suggestions, or some of them. And for me, honestly, that’s what this is about.”
Later, Jordan revealed that he had no idea about Boseman's firing. "It’s hard to speak in the moment about how things we do can affect other people. But this is a pure example, right here on the spot — we ain’t never talked about this before a day in our lives — to understand how what people do now can directly affect what other people do in the future,” Jordan said. “And the work that we’re doing on ‘Black Panther’ is hopefully doing the same thing for the next group of actors that are coming up, just like our predecessors opened up doors and made things easier for us.”
In 'Black Panther', Jordan played the role of Killmonger, the hero's arch-nemesis. Both actors delivered powerful performances. Boseman played the role of Prince T'Challa, who faces threats from cousin Killmonger for the throne. Killmonger was actually an unusually nuanced villain for Marvel, and had different plans for the people of Wakanda. Both the performances resonated with the audience, due to the on-screen chemistry of the two actors which culminated into a powerful and rich film that will leave behind a legacy in time. Later, Jordan revealed that starring in 'Black Panther' took a heavy emotional toll on him, and he eventually had to seek therapy to disconnect himself from the role.