Chadwick Boseman tipped for posthumous glory with 'Ma Rainey' swansong

December 19 ------ Four months after his death shocked the world, trailblazing US actor Chadwick Boseman makes his heartbreaking, hotly Oscar-tipped final film appearance in 1920s blues drama Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. The Black Panther star portrays a feisty, irreverent horn player struggling to make himself heard in a Chicago music world riddled with racism and exploitation, in the August Wilson play adaptation out Friday on Netflix.

Boseman's role as the piece's tragic hero takes on added poignancy by his death at age 43 this August from colon cancer – a diagnosis he never publicly discussed or even shared with his co-stars during production. Viola Davis, who plays the real-life "Mother of the Blues" Ma Rainey, has described her co-star's role as "one of the greatest – if not the greatest – role for an African-American actor in history," distilling the historic trauma of the Black experience.

"I'm looking back at how tired he always seemed," Davis told The New York Times about the film shot last year. "Now we know that the role mirrors Chadwick's life... it mirrors the life of every Black person grieving, and especially the life of a Black man," she added. Boseman had secretly battled through his cancer diagnosis to become the first Black star with his own superhero epic in the record-breaking Marvel franchise. 2018's Black Panther was nominated for best picture at the Oscars and grossed over $1 billion worldwide. Last week, Disney paid tribute to Boseman by announcing that his iconic role as T'Challa will not be recast in the sequel.

Source: rappler.com/entertainment