‘Little did I know’: Viola Davis says she regrets questioning late co-star Chadwick Boseman’s special treatment

Viola Davis has opened up about the regret she feels for questioning why her former co-star, Chadwick Boseman, received special treatment while they filmed a movie together years ago. 

The Oscar-winning actress starred alongside the late actor in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, which marked Boseman’s final film role prior to his tragic death from colon cancer in 2020. The drama film premiered after Boseman’s passing, and earned him a posthumous Oscar nomination for Best Actor. Boseman notoriously battled his worsening condition in private in the years before his death at the age of 43, meaning Davis was unaware of what he was going through while they both filmed Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. 

In a recent interview with The Times, Davis recalled her misinterpretation of the special treatment Boseman was receiving while they worked on the film, which came in the form of Boseman’s makeup artist and his fiancé, Taylor Simone Ledward. Davis said she often saw the Black Panther star being doted on by the pair, who played meditation music for him and gave him back rubs in between takes. At the time, Davis thought much of the attention given to Boseman felt unnecessary. 

“There was a part of me that was a little judgmental — why do you need all that?” Davis said. “Little did I know that they were doing it because he was dying.” Of course, the moment was a misunderstanding, since Davis has regularly paid tribute to her former co-star in the years since his untimely death. Last August, which marked four years since Boseman’s passing, Davis took to Instagram to reminisce her colleague and friend, remembering him for his “authenticity, passion and love” and saying his “flame will never be extinguished.”

Chadwick…..no words to express my devastation of losing you. Your talent, your spirit, your heart, your authenticity……..It was an honor working beside you, getting to know you….Rest well prince…May flights of angels sing thee to thy heavenly rest. I love you! 💛💛💛 pic.twitter.com/6abglPBOsh

— Viola Davis (@violadavis) August 29, 2020

She wasn’t the only actor to mark the occasion last year, with Chadwick’s Black Panther co-star Lupita Nyong’o writing at the time that the “grief never ends.” In the wake of his death in 2020, scores of Chadwick’s Marvel peers, including Brie Larson, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Don Cheadle, and Zoë Saldana, were among those to pay tribute. Elsewhere in the interview, Davis discussed her upcoming film G20, in which she plays an American president (if only that were the reality!) who attends the titular summit and is held hostage by terrorists. While that sounds pretty full on, the movie is much more fun than that logline implies, according to Davis. 

“I don’t think every movie you do has to be considered for an Academy award,” she told The Times. “I wanted to do something that families could watch together, something popular.” That movie is set for release on Amazon Prime later this month, and in the meantime, Davis has floated plans of getting into directing, as well as starring in some kind of zombie movie. Which other actor can claim to be a POTUS, undead-killer and an EGOT-winner all at once? Only the Viola Davis, of course!