When Chadwick Boseman died two months back after a four-year-long battle with colon cancer, he also left his entire Marvel family behind. The late actor worked with many members of the MCU in different capacities over the years, but it’s clear he made a lasting impression on Hollywood thanks to the outpouring of tributes and genuinely kind words his collaborators have shared since his passing. The movie franchise’s Sam Wilson/Falcon, Anthony Mackie, has a sweet story to share about Boseman too.
While promoting his latest movie Synchronic with Jamie Dornan, Anthony Mackie shared with Entertainment Tonight just how far back he and Chadwick Boseman went. In his words:
I have a lot of memories of Chad. I cared about him dearly as a friend. The first time I met him was in 1998. I went down to Howard, and he was directing a play there. My girlfriend at the time brought me into the theater to check out the Elizabeth Catholic Collection, and he was in the black box in an office chair spinning around the room. She was like, ‘Hey Chad, I want you to meet my classmate at Juilliard, Anthony.’ He goes, ‘Wait, I’m concentrating. Don’t break my vibe.’ He just spins around the room, I was like, ‘It’s nice to meet you, man.’ He’s like, ‘I’m almost there!’
What an epic way to meet Black Panther long before he was even a glimmer in Kevin Feige’s eye! At the time, Chadwick Boseman was likely 22 years old and Anthony Mackie was about 20. It’s crazy to think the actors who would become Marvel legends met so early in their careers while they were in college – and different colleges on different sides of the U.S. no less! As Mackie recalled, he was introduced to Boseman by an old girlfriend at a time when he was already directing his own work.
Chadwick Boseman gave Anthony Mackie quite the first impression as he spun around on his chair around the room to keep his “vibe.” The actors would not work together until 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, which boosted Boseman’s life into mega stardom. Mackie continued:
Once everything kind of took off for him, I was like, ‘Remember the first time we met?’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, I don’t want to talk about it. I was going through a lot in my young age.’
It’s a hilarious story that certainly brings some joy in remembering the talented actor. We have a sense of what he was like as a young college student and play director back in the late ‘90s. Anthony Mackie shared the anecdote while in quarantine filming for The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which comes to Disney+ in 2021.
Spike Lee has also recently been open about his experience working with Chadwick Boseman on one of his last films, Da 5 Bloods. Letitia Wright has shared that she and the Black Panther cast do not even want to think about making another movie without the actor as they mourn his passing. Boseman’s final film will be Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, coming to Netflix on December 18. Check out what other movies are coming out this year with CinemaBlend’s 2020 release schedule.
