HotHot this month AndyAndy Warhol,Warhol, blanket fforts,orts, HonolHonoluluullu stsstreettreet art, mmysteryystery mansmansionsions 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 PantherPanther “I MADE IT BACK IN ONE PIECE!” OLYMPIAN SHANI DAVIS ON HIS SWEDISH ADVENTURES 001_Cover.indd 1 09/01/2018 08:42 XXXXXXXX 40 – AMERICAN WAY 040-050_Chadwick_rev1.9.18.indd 40 10/01/2018 10:24 AFTER PORTRAYING SUCH TRAILBLAZING ICONS AS JACKIE ROBINSON AND JAMES BROWN, 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 AMERICAN WAY – 41 040-050_Chadwick_rev1.9.18.indd 41 10/01/2018 10:24 CHADWICK 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 Captain America: 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 Wakanda. 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 Marvel Studios 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 42 – AMERICAN WAY 040-050_Chadwick_rev1.9.18.indd 42 10/01/2018 10:24 XXXXXXXX 44 – AMERICAN WAY 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 AMERICAN WAY – 45 040-050_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 Theatre. 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, Letitia Wright 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 er 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.