Article By Mary Hearst // EEW Magazine Online // In Memoriam

As the public grapples with the fresh loss of “Black Panther” star Chadwick Boseman, Letitia Wright, who played Shuri— the spunky, intelligent onscreen sister of Boseman’s character King T’Challa— is revealing that their brother-sister bond was real off-screen.

Hit especially hard by the loss, the 26-year-old Christian actress was unable to convey the depths of her sadness in simple words alone. She posted a beautiful yet heartrending video tribute to the actor whose shocking death at 43 after a four-year battle with colon cancer left family, friends, and fans shattered.

“It is written, there is nothing new under the sun, but the sun stood still that morning, refusing to shine,” Wright is heard describing the day she learned of Boseman’s death in the video’s voiceover.

“Dark clouds surrounding. Confusion setting in. Tears flowing. Rivers so deep. I didn’t know this was what I was waking up to. My brother, an angel on earth, departed,” she says.

The nearly six-minute long film edited by the Guyanese-born, London-bred star, who also co-starred in Avengers: Infinity War with Boseman, is full of visual symbolism, melancholic music, and poetic expressions of grief.  

“A soul so beautiful, when you walked into a room there was calm. You always moved with grace and ease. Every time I saw you the world would be a better place. Words can’t describe how I feel, how we all feel, that losing you is forced upon us,” she continues.

“I wish I got to say goodbye. I messaged you a couple times, but I thought you were just busy. I didn’t know you were dealing with so much. But against all the odds, you remained focused on fulfilling your purpose with the time handed to you. And I’ll never forget the day that I met you before I got on the plane to LA for my first meeting with you. God told me that you were my brother, and that I am to love you as such. And I always did. And I always will.

“But now my heart is broken, searching for old messages of exchange, cards filled with your handwriting and memories of you holding my hand as if it was for eternity. I thought we had more time and many more years to come for more laughter and more moments of me picking on you on set, leaning my head on your shoulders …I thought this would be forever.”

Wright’s video tribute comes on the heels of her Aug. 30 tweet two days after Boseman’s death, saying, “this hurts. really hurts,” which was liked more than 290,000 times and retweeted by more than 30,000 fans.

Social media users have responded overwhelmingly to Boseman’s death with the final tweet from his account becoming the most-liked tweet in Twitter’s history.

“This hurts,” Wright goes on. “I’m trusting God to heal all wounds. It is also written that all things are made new. There is light in the darkness. Streams of living water flow giving new life. And all that’s left now is for us to allow all the seeds you’ve planted on the earth to grow, to blossom, to become even more beautiful. You’re forever in my heart.”

Boseman died at his home in the Los Angeles area with his wife and family by his side, his publicist Nicki Fioravante said.

In a statement, his family said, “A true fighter, Chadwick persevered through it all, and brought you many of the films you have come to love so much. From Marshall to Da 5 Bloods, August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and several more - all were filmed during and between countless surgeries and chemotherapy. It was the honor of his career to bring King T’Challa to life in Black Panther.”

Boseman had not spoken publicly about his diagnosis. He is survived by his wife and a parent and had no children.

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