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FEBRUARYFEBRB UARYR 2018

CARTAGENA’S NEXT BIG THING LEARNING GOLF FROM A ROBOT GHOSTED: EERIE GOLD RUSH TOWNS A BLIND MAN’S BAJA ODYSSEY MAKING HIS MARK ChadwickChadwick Boseman shredsshreds barriersbarriers in BlackBlack PanthPantherer “I MADE IT BACK IN ONE PIECE!” OLYMPIAN SHANI DAVIS ON HIS SWEDISH ADVENTURES

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040-050_Chadwick_rev1.9.18.indd 40 10/01/2018 10:24 AFTER PORTRAYING SUCH TRAILBLAZING ICONS AS AND , DEEP THINKER CHADWICK BOSEMAN IS SINKING HIS CLAWS INTO HIS BIGGEST ROLE YET IN BLACK PANTHER

Words DERRIK J. LANG Photography MAARTEN DE BOER XXXXXXXX

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senses and strength, as well as a slick uniform laced with impenetrable BOSEMAN metal. The character has been a pil- lar of the superhero community ever since, with Boseman fi rst appearing as T’Challa in the 2016 fi lm : Civil War. WANTS TO The release of this month’s standalone Black Panther (Feb. 16) is making a simi- lar statement. It features a predominantly black cast and is set almost entirely in the DANCE. secretive and technologically advanced African nation of . The fi lm starts As he poses for a photo shoot in a hotel suite with T’Challa returning home to deal with overlooking Hollywood Boulevard, a stylist the fallout from his father’s death, including frantically tries to fi gure out how to connect villains vying for the throne and looking to his smartphone to the room’s speak- expose Wakanda to the outside world. ers for some much-needed musical While he didn’t grow up bingeing on com- inspiration. In person, Boseman ics, Boseman was always aware of the charac- is surprisingly reserved—not ter’s importance. Before Black Panther, there quite aloof, but on the mys- were more green superheroes than black ones. terious side of cool. But then, “I understood what the comic book meant,” when the correct plug is found he says. He also understands the signifi cance and James Brown’s “The Boss” of the Black Panther taking a front-and-cen- booms out, Boseman’s feet ter role in Marvel’s multi-billion-dollar movie start shuffling across the franchise. “I knew if this fi lm ever happened, it floor. “You can’t let it go,” the would be a sea change moment,” he says. “Not 41-year-old actor says, his legs a just for me, but for everyone.” shimmying blur. Before winning The fi lm’s impact hit home for Boseman the part of Black Panther, Marvel during Halloween, when Black Panther Comics’ fi rst black superhero, he became one of the most popular costumes was best known for his spot-on por- of the season. “It was crazy to see litt le kids trayal of James Brown in the thought- dressed up like me,” he says, adding that there ful 2014 biopic Get On Up. may be more to all this than lighthearted fan- I pull my phone out to capture his tasy. “There are kids going through certain moves, but he notices and stops dead. things, and they use these stories as their med- “I see what you’re doing over there!” icine,” he continues, referring to the sense he yells, flashing a bright smile. A of empowerment Black Panther can convey. moment later, the phone pocketed, his “Even adults use it as medicine to help them impromptu dance party resumes as if get through these times.” nothing happened. Without any hint And the character’s profi le looks set to loom of ego, Boseman commands the room. even larger. Black Panther marks the penulti- It’s that sort of eff ortless authority mate stop in Marvel’s 10-year journey toward that led to pick Boseman Avengers: Infi nity War (May 4), the much-an- to play T’Challa, a fi ctional African ticipated superhero mash-up that will unite king who moonlights as a clawed crime characters from across Marvel’s cinematic uni- fi ghter in a skintight panther suit. The verse, including T’Challa and his Wakandan character, created by Stan Lee and art- cohorts. Hulk, meet Panther. ist Jack Kirby, originated in the comics in 1966. Black Panther was as much a social statement as he was a totally cool dude. FOR YEARS, BOSEMAN WAS HIDING IN He wasn’t just black. He had a great ori- plain sight as an aspiring writer-director

gin story and awesome powers—enhanced who’d shifted toward acting. After a spate of XXXXXXXX

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040-050_Chadwick_rev1.9.18.indd 44 10/01/2018 10:24 “I KNEW IF A BLACK PANTHER FILM EVER HAPPENED, IT WOULD BE A SEA CHANGE MOMENT. NOT JUST FOR ME, BUT FOR EVERYONE.” XXXXXXXX

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040-050_Chadwick_rev1.9.18.indd 45 10/01/2018 10:25 guest roles on TV shows such as Law & Order FEMALE POWER these iconic characters, I am att racted to that and ER, he deftly brought Jackie Robinson’s Boseman on because I grew up looking for them in books.” quiet dignity to the big screen in 2013 in 42. the ladies During his college years, Boseman veered A year later, he showcased his dramatic of Black Panther away from his dreams of being a writer-di- prowess—and those dance moves—in Get On rector to study acting at Oxford University’s Up. The lack of a Golden Globe or Academy British American Drama Academy. He was Award nomination for his portrayal of Brown encouraged to do so—pushed, really—by a landed Boseman on many critics’ lists of teacher, Cosby Show actress Phylicia Rashad. awards snubs that year. Yes, Mrs. Huxtable convinced the future Black Boseman was unveiled as Black Panther at a splashy 2014 press conference at Hollywood’s El Capitan . Joining him onstage at the “IF I WAS PAYING event were two of Earth’s mightiest heroes: Captain America and Iron Man, aka Chris Lupita Nyong’o (Nakia, T’Challa’s Ex) MY BILLS, IT DIDN’T Evans and Robert Downey Jr. Until that point, “Lupita is very in true superhero fashion, Boseman had kept organized. She MATTER WHETHER his role a secret. multitasks. I could SOMEONE ELSE “I didn’t even tell my mom,” he says with a easily see her snicker. “I don’t even know if my mom would managing a kingdom.” THOUGHT I WAS have been able to grasp what it was. She might have been, like, ‘OK, so you are doing a movie SUCCESSFUL OR NOT.” about the Black Panthers.’” Though Boseman had planted his flag depicting real people in serious films, it was Panther to go to England. “She basically talked a no-brainer for him to enter the superhero me into auditioning for that program,” he says. world, which is storytelling on an epic scale. “I didn’t think I was going to get into it.” “There are things that change your psyche Danai Gurira He was always keen to act in friends’ and open you up to a new reality,” he says (Okoye, productions in the hope that they would repay over a cup of tea in the hotel’s lobby, dressed T’Challa’s Confidant) the favor when he staged his plays, but he casually in a pair of jeans and a black T-shirt “It’s easy to get lost didn’t necessarily feel the urge to be onstage and jacket. “I knew Black Panther had the and be put in the or in front of the camera. During his time at background, but she possibility of doing that, from the commer- makes sure you find Oxford, though, he was exposed to the clas- cial aspect, but also the intellectual, spiritual your way to her light.” sics, which fed his enthusiasm and boosted his and the artistic aspect. It’s a grand thing to confi dence. “When I came back, I began to feel think about.” like, ‘Oh, now I know what it means to be an Storytelling has deep roots in Boseman’s actor. There’s a diff erence between being able life. While growing up in Anderson, South to do it and being it.’” Carolina, his mother required her son to read Boseman was not particularly interested at least one book a week. Her thinking was in stardom. “I wasn’t looking for it,” he says. that if he was disciplined enough to do that, he Instead, he worked on projects that matt ered could stay out of trouble, reach his goals and to him. His play Deep Azure, loosely based on learn a thing or two in the process. One week, the story of a fellow Howard student killed he goofed around and didn’t read anything. (Shuri, by police in 2000, was nominated for a 2006 Instead of fessing up, he produced a litt le cre- T’Challa’s Sister) Joseph Jeff e rson A ward for New W ork, and ative fi ction of his own. “Letitia is not afraid to he’s developed several fi l m scripts. “If I was “She wanted to know what I had read, and admit that she is paying my bills, it didn’t matt whether some- nervous. But she doesn’t I made up this whole book that wasn’t real,” let that stop her.” one else thought I was successful or not. It Boseman recalls with a grin. “I came up with the came to a point where it just sorta paid off .” story. I drew pictures of it. It took more time for me to create the book than to actually just read a book. That was probably the beginning of me FOR ACTORS TO BECOME A SUPERHERO being a storyteller.” It was also the beginning of nowadays, they essentially have to give their his acting career—his mother totally bought it. lives over to the part. Maintaining a strict diet After high school, Boseman attended and exercise routine becomes just as import- in Washington, D.C., where ant as remembering the lines and understand- he studied directing, while also laying the Angela Bassett ing the character’s motivation. Boseman’s part foundations for his acting career. “When I was (Ramonda, as T’Challa requires using his body in ways T’Challa’s Mother) growing up, there were very few books writt en “She’s powerful and he never imagined. “The physical aspect of it by black authors, so it made me seek knowl- strong, and yet she is, at becomes part of your day-to-day—yoga, martial edge from outside of that space,” he says with the same time, patient arts, weight lift ing,” he says. “All that stuff is a

a deliberate tone. “When you see me playing with the process.” way into the character.” XXXXXXXX

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040-050_Chadwick_rev1.9.18.indd 46 10/01/2018 10:25 Regardless of whether he is playing a real-world legend or a superhero, Boseman “THIS SUPERHERO approaches every role with the same vigor. Despite the fact that Black Panther was created with ink and pen, if the fi lm is to be successful, if THING IS PART OF the story is to be powerful, the character needs to be just as fl eshed out as Jackie Robinson, James MY LIFE, BUT IT’S Brown or , the Supreme Court justice he played in last year’s courtroom NOT MY LIFE—AND drama Marshall. “For me, it’s the opportunity to test myself and try diff erent stuff because, ulti- mately, playing the Black Panther is going to THAT IS KEY.” help me with the next real person I play—or if it’s completely fantasy, it’s going to help me, too.” Meanwhile, Boseman has found another famous mentor in Robert Downey Jr. Having appeared in eight Marvel films, the vet- eran actor is basically the godfather of the He takes in everything before he speaks, superhero genre. While showing Boseman which is a great trait to have.” the ropes, Downey cautioned him about Boseman is particularly circumspect when the unforgiving nature of the Marvel movie it comes to discussing his personal life. “It’s machine. “It is not meant to necessarily take no one’s business, really,” he says when asked care of you,” Boseman says before pausing, about the possibility of gett ing married or hav- looking for the right way to express himself— ing children, albeit with another of those mil- or not get into trouble. “You have to take care lion-watt smiles. “When you talk about that, of yourself.” He says he learned just as much you become a whole diff erent type of celebrity. from watching Downey interact with his Your personal life bleeds into your professional family on set as he has from any of their con- life. I’m an actor, and you know me from who I versations. “Family takes care of me, I take play. You get a sense of who I am, but you don’t care of family, and this superhero thing is know everything.” part of my life,” he says. “But it’s not my life— As for the plot of Black Panther, meanwhile, and that is key.” Boseman is under strict orders not to reveal too much. He does say that his favorite scenes to shoot involved meditative Wakandan ritu- WHEN HE SPEAKS, BOSEMAN IS DELIB- als—he and the extras became so immersed in erate and to the point. He doesn’t spend time these, he says, that they forgot they were mak- hemming and hawing, nor does he crack ing a movie. “Those things were particularly jokes—a smile, yes; one-liners, no. It’s surpris- interesting to me. They deal with connections ing just how seriously he takes this superhero to your family, ancestors and spirit that drive stuff , but to those who know him well, this the character and inform why he thinks the would probably make sense. way he thinks and feels the way he feels.” During production of Black Panther in In a way, playing T’Challa has put the Atlanta, Lupita Nyong’o organized a bowl- African-American actor in touch with his ing outing for the cast one night. The Oscar- own ancestry. “For , if you were winning 12 Years a Slave actress plays Nakia, brought here, you don’t actually know what Following T’Challa’s former lover and a member of Black Panther, ethnic group you come from. You don’t know Wakanda’s all-female special forces team. the superhero what tribe you come from, so you can’t say, Boseman proceeded to turn what was intended will appear ‘This is what we used to do over there.’ It’s a to be a fun night out into a merciless competi- in May’s whole new culture here, so we’re people who Avengers: tion. “He won every game,” says Letitia Wright, Infinity War have never tapped into that. It became real. It’s who plays T’Challa’s sister Shuri. “We kept jok- a moment I will never forget.” ing, ‘Go back to Wakanda. Go away!’” As he says this, I’m reminded how rare it That’s a cute story, but it also points too the isis for a mainstream superhero movie to star a steely determination that leads Bosemann to, dark-skinnedda actor. It’s even rarer for such a say, spend five months practicing baseballeball moviemo to be set in Africa. Boseman acknowl- for 42, or work with a choreographer severalveral edgesed that bringing the fantastical realm of hours a day to mimic Brown’s moves forr GetGet WakandaWa to the big screen was a monumen- On Up. Even in the raucous environmentnt ofof taltal challenge, one that could have gone hor- an action-hero movie set, Wright says, sheshe riblyrib wrong. However, writer-director Ryan noticed something different about her costar.star. CooglerCo (Creed, Fruitvale Station) and his team

“He’s not much of a talker. He’s very internal.rnal. workedwo diligently to craft a place that stayed (5) 2018 STUDIOS © MARVEL 46 BOTTOM: LEFT AND PAGE

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040-050_Chadwick_rev1.9.18.indd 49 10/01/2018 10:25 “I’M AN ACTOR, AND “Oh, yeah,” he says when asked about poten- Chadwick was tial pet projects, holding up his screen to show photographed YOU KNOW ME FROM a string of recent text messages. “That’s what at the Kimpton this is all about. I wish I could tell you, but Everly Hotel WHO I PLAY. YOU GET some of the things I’m most excited about are in Hollywood. writing projects that might happen next year.” A SENSE OF WHO Stylist: First, however, Black Panther has to reclaim Ashley Weston I AM, BUT YOU DON’T Wakanda’s throne and help the Avengers save Groomer: the universe. As Marvel forges into its next Saisha Beecham KNOW EVERYTHING.” phase, the question is: What role will Black Panther play? Iron Man is the wisecrack- ing leader. Hulk is the tough guy. Captain true to both its comic-book roots and to Africa. America is the righteous one. Spider-Man is “If you don’t do that, then you’d end up with the lovable rascal. Where exactly does Black something comedic,” Boseman says. “I think Panther fit in? every single person who worked on this movie “He doesn’t have to fi t in,” says Boseman was aware of that.” without hesitation. “That’s the thing about In a neat litt le twist, the cachet of playing Black Panther. He already has his own space. Black Panther is now enabling Boseman to We’re just now fi nding out about it.” A moment return to what he originally set out to do: write later, the six-foot-tall actor stands, lets down and direct. Throughout our conversation, he’s that debonair exterior and wraps an arm been ignoring his phone, which is vibrating around me in half of a goodbye hug. Boseman with messages instead of James Brown tunes. isn’t worried about being cool. He just is.

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