Nearly five years after his death, Michael B. Jordan says he still speaks to the late Chadwick Boseman.
During a recent sit-down on “CBS Mornings,” the 38-year-old actor reflected on how the “Black Panther” star’s death at age 43 in 2020, following a private battle with colon cancer, continues to shape his life and work.
When the conversation turned to recent remarks by “Black Panther” director Ryan Coogler, who suggested Boseman’s passing may have impacted Jordan the most among the film’s cast, the actor didn’t push back.
“I don’t know… yeah,” he said. “Chad’s a very special person. I just wish I had more time with him. I think that’s the hurtful thing.”
Boseman, who starred as T’Challa in “Black Panther,” kept his diagnosis and four-year fight with cancer largely private—even from most of his castmates. News of his death on August 28, 2020, sent shockwaves through Hollywood and devastated fans around the world.
The “Creed” star went on to share how Boseman’s legacy still guides him on set. While filming “Sinners,” Jordan admitted he struggled at times to maintain a Southern accent, until a lesson Boseman once exemplified helped him refocus.
“When Chadwick was playing T’Challa, he never broke,” Jordan explained. “Always kept his accent—at home, on set, everywhere. He always had it.”
So when Jordan hit a wall, Coogler posed a simple question: What would Chadwick do?
“That was it,” Jordan said. “There was nothing else that needed to be said after that. It really helped me lock in.”
Beyond discipline and craft, Jordan—visibly emotional at times—shared that his connection to Boseman remains deeply personal, and that he still speaks to him.
“He’s in a place of higher understanding now,” he said. “He knows my heart. He understands. And I do speak to him.”
In November 2025, Boseman was posthumously honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The emotional ceremony drew his widow, Simone Ledward, alongside members of the “Black Panther” family—including Jordan, Coogler, and Letitia Wright—as well as a wide swath of Black Hollywood.
