Spike Lee’s latest flick Da 5 Bloods was one of Chadwick Boseman’s final projects. While the actor wasn’t a lead character in the movie, his co-star Clarke Peters recently spoke out about not having the best first impression of Boseman, thanks to the entourage of people he brought with him on set. Now, he’s speaking out about regretting this first impression following the actor’s death at 43 following a battle with Stage IV colon cancer.
In a recent interview, Clarke Peters told Good Morning Britain that he was super excited to be working with Chadwick Boseman, who had been coming off of his high-profile Marvel role Black Panther when Spike Lee set Da 5 Bloods up. He recalls not really getting to know Boseman on the movie because he was always off by himself or surrounded by people he’d brought with him to the set.
I have to say with a little bit of regret that I probably wasn’t the most altruistic in that environment, but hindsight teaches us a lot of things. What I'm addressing is basically, my wife asked what Chadwick was like, you know? I was really excited to work with him. I said, 'I think he's a little bit precious.' And she said, 'Why?' And I said, 'Because he's surrounded by people who are fawning over him.
Apparently, when Da 5 Bloods was filming in the hot, sweaty landscapes of Thailand, Chadwick Boseman had brought along his wife, but also a slew of people. Looking back, it’s easy to see that Boseman likely had people there to help him just get through filming as he was dealing with the ravages of cancer while also trying to make sure his performance came together. It was a silent battle and one Clarke Peters knew nothing about, but he says he honestly wishes he could go back and see the experience through another lens, revealing,
He’s got a Chinese practitioner who’s massaging his back when he walks off set. He has a makeup lady massaging his feet. His girlfriend is there holding his hand. And I'm thinking maybe the Black Panther thing went to his head. I regret even having those thoughts because they were really looking after him.
The Good Morning Britain people told Clarke Peters he can’t beat himself up about what happened because nobody knew about Chadwick Boseman’s illness. But most of us have moments in our own personal lives where we don’t look back with fondness on ways we acted or behaved, even if it’s just thoughts and not actions. Even if we just didn’t have a key piece of information to complete a picture.
In the case of Chadwick Boseman, things are more complicated. By all accounts Da 5 Bloods actor was intensely private about his personal life, to the point where most of the people who knew him did not know he was battling colon cancer, from his Avengers to 5 Bloods collaborators. As a celebrity, Boseman likely gained a lot from not being open about his diagnosis, in terms of maintaining the image he wanted to in public life and avoiding all the media scrutiny and questions, but like everything, life is complicated, and there is some loss there as well.
Ultimately, Chadwick Boseman’s not a lead in Da 5 Bloods, but he does put in an excellent performance around the movie’s leaders, Clarke Peters, Delroy Lindo (who's already landed some awards buzz for the gig), Isiah Whitlock Jr., Norm Lewis and Jonathan Majors. If you haven’t watched it yet, it’s currently available streaming on Netflix.
