Six years after Chadwick Boseman’s death, the actress reflects on the bond that changed how she sees love, loss, and time itself.
Six years after Chadwick Boseman’s death, Lupita Nyong’o is once again reminding the world how deeply his memory continues to shape her life. In a tribute posted around the Aug. 28 anniversary of his passing, the 43-year-old actress used her platform not to dwell in sorrow alone, but to urge her followers to cherish the people who love them back while they still can.
Boseman died in 2020 at age 43 after privately battling colon cancer, a loss that stunned fans and colleagues given how quietly he carried the diagnosis through years of demanding film work. Nyong’o, who built a close friendship with him on and off set, has spent the years since balancing public remembrance with private mourning, and her latest post continues that pattern of turning personal loss into a broader lesson about gratitude and connection.
A Tribute Rooted in Love
Nyong’o’s Instagram message this week centered on a simple but pointed idea: hold tightly to the people who reciprocate your love, and don’t wait to tell them so. The sentiment echoed years of public reflection from the actress, who has repeatedly framed Boseman’s death as a turning point in how she views mortality and the people closest to her.
The Wakandan Bond That Started It All
The friendship traces back to 2018’s Black Panther, where Boseman starred as T’Challa, the newly crowned king of the fictional nation of Wakanda, and Nyong’o played Nakia, a Wakandan spy and T’Challa’s former love interest. The film became a cultural phenomenon, and the chemistry between its stars extended well beyond the screen. Following Boseman’s death, the franchise continued with 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which reimagined the story around Wakanda mourning its fallen king and introduced Nakia’s previously unknown son with T’Challa.
Living With Grief On-Screen
Nyong’o has never shied away from discussing how Boseman’s death altered her. In the weeks following his passing, she described the experience in visceral, physical terms. That grief resurfaced unexpectedly while she filmed A Quiet Place: Day One, a project built around a cancer storyline. Nyong’o has said revisiting that subject matter on set became an unexpectedly healing exercise, forcing her to confront feelings she hadn’t fully processed since losing her friend, and reinforcing her belief that an awareness of life’s fragility pushes people to live with more intention rather than taking loved ones for granted.
Honoring a Legacy That Endures
The actress has marked Boseman’s birthday and the anniversary of his death in various ways over the years, at one point pairing a photo of the two of them with a reflection from theologian Henri Nouwen about how deeply loved people remain present long after they’re gone. She has also acknowledged how difficult it has been to actually rewatch Black Panther; at a London Film Festival appearance in October 2024, she admitted she hadn’t seen the film since Boseman died and grew visibly emotional after watching just a brief clip. She has described grief as love with nowhere left to go, and said she has learned to sit with that discomfort rather than avoid it, finding some comfort in knowing the footage keeps him, in a sense, still with her.
What’s Next for Nakia
Nyong’o’s future in the Marvel Cinematic Universe remains only partly mapped out. She has not been confirmed for the ensemble blockbuster Avengers: Doomsday, slated for a December release, but she is expected to return as Nakia in Black Panther 3, currently penciled in for December 2028. Until then, her tributes to Boseman remain some of the most consistent public reminders of the impact he left behind — not just as a superhero on-screen, but as a friend whose absence she still feels every year on this date.
Source: People
