“How do you honour a king?” – Danai Gurira pays tribute to Chadwick Boseman

Zimbabwean actress and playwright Danai Gurira has joined the chorus of voices paying tribute to the iconic actor Chadwick Boseman.

Gurira shared the screen with Boseman in the role for which he was most famous, Black Panther. They would also reprise their roles in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers:Endgame.

Gurira penned a tribute she shared a tribute which started with the words:

How do you honor a king? Reeling from the loss of my colleague, my friend, my brother

She went on to say:

Struggling for words. Nothing feels adequate. I always marveled at how special Chadwick was. Such a pure hearted, profoundly generous, regal, fun guy.

Speaking to her role as Okoye, the right-handwoman to Boseman’s T’Challa and how that was reflected in real life Gurira added:

My entire job as Okoye was to respect and protect a king. Honor his leadership. Chadwick made that job profoundly easy, He was the epitome of kindness, elegance, diligence and grace. On many an occasion I would think how thankful I was that he was the leading man I was working closely with. A true class act. And so perfectly equipped to take on the responsibility of leading the franchise that changed everything for Black representation

She further shared more glowing praise:

He made everyone feel loved, heard and seen. He played great, iconic roles because he possessed inside of himself that connection to greatness to be able to so richly bring them to life. He had a heroic spirit, and marched to the beat of his own drum; hence his excellence as an artist and the incredible courage and determination as he faced life’s challenges; while still guiding us all.
He was zen and sweet and funny (with the very best laugh), attentive, and truly, truly, good. I can’t even wrap my mind around this loss. A loss resonating in my own heart as well as around the globe. The children he inspired, my heart aches for them, to lose their hero just as they finally found him. I am so thankful to have taken the Black Panther journey with him. To have known him, spent time in his light and leadership and to call him forever a friend.

She signed off with the Xhosa expression, Lala Ngoxolo Kumkani. Loosely translated it means Sleep In Peace My king

Boseman succumbed to colon cancer on Thursday at the age of 43.

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How do you honor a king? Reeling from the loss of my colleague, my friend, my brother. Struggling for words. Nothing feels adequate. I always marveled at how special Chadwick was. Such a pure hearted, profoundly generous, regal, fun guy. My entire job as Okoye was to respect and protect a king. Honor his leadership. Chadwick made that job profoundly easy. He was the epitome of kindness, elegance, diligence and grace. On many an occasion I would think how thankful I was that he was the leading man I was working closely with. A true class act. And so perfectly equipped to take on the responsibility of leading the franchise that changed everything for Black representation. He made everyone feel loved, heard and seen. He played great, iconic roles because he possessed inside of himself that connection to greatness to be able to so richly bring them to life. He had a heroic spirit, and marched to the beat of his own drum; hence his excellence as an artist and the incredible courage and determination as he faced life’s challenges; while still guiding us all. He was zen and sweet and funny (with the very best laugh), attentive, and truly, truly, good. I can’t even wrap my mind around this loss. A loss resonating in my own heart as well as around the globe. The children he inspired, my heart aches for them, to lose their hero just as they finally found him. I am so thankful to have taken the Black Panther journey with him. To have known him, spent time in his light and leadership and to call him forever a friend. Lala Ngoxolo Kumkani.
A post shared by Danai Gurira (@danaigurira) on Aug 30, 2020 at 4:26pm PDT