Viola Davis and Ryan Coogler were among the friends, family, and fans who got teary-eyed while celebrating the life and career of late actor Chadwick Boseman.
On Thursday, the celebrated performer was honored with a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, five years after his death at 43. The event was attended by Boseman’s widow, Taylor Simone Ledward Boseman, as well as his Black Panther costars Michael B. Jordan and Letitia Wright, and Disney CEO Bob Iger. Early on, the emotional event saw Davis step up to the podium to deliver a passionate tribute to the actor.
“I have to believe that Chadwick is still alive. I can’t use the word gone or death, really,” Davis began. “When thinking about him, it’s like the quote, ‘When the last person who has a memory of you [dies] that’s when you’ll truly be dead.'”
Davis, who starred alongside Boseman in his final film role in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, said she often had conversations about “the cap of success” and “the significance of transcendence” with the actor, at one point telling him, “When I’m not acting, I don’t know who I am.”
Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty
Chadwick Boseman is honored with a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Nov. 20, 2025
Boseman’s response stuck with her. “He would say, ‘Oh no, Viola, you can’t let that happen,'” she recalled. “‘What I do is I carry my djembe drum everywhere I go. I don’t care if it gets in the way of luggage. I don’t care if I have to argue with the airline stewardess of where I’m gonna put it. I need my drum.'”
She continued, “That djembe drum is a talking drum, he would play it on the set. You could hear it in his trailer. It was more than just a sound, it was more than just music, it resounded through the entire soundstage and he would play it fervently. Chadwick, you channeled the divine. You were a conduit.”
Growing emotional as she continued, Davis praised Boseman for creating work that “reminded us that we are less alone.”
She added, “I thank him for what he left behind in me, which is a burning amber that always guides me to a higher meaning of my work and my purpose. This star, as beautiful as it is on the Walk of Fame, shines a whole lot less brighter than Chadwick does in heaven.”
Davis was followed by Boseman’s friend and Black Panther director Ryan Coogler, whose voice cracked with emotion as he recounted the evolution of their relationship.
Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty
Letitia Wright, Taylor Simone Ledward Boseman, and Michael B. Jordan
“Chad felt thousands of years old. He was that calm and that wise,” Coogler said of meeting the actor. “It was a very unnerving feeling to be around. Our first time together, we were completely alone. He somehow snuck into a hotel room I was in during a massive press tour for Creed. It was crawling with press, but he got by all of them for us to have a one-on-one meeting to talk about working together on Black Panther.”
Coogler said when he asked Boseman how he pulled it off, the actor smiled and said, “That was the Panther.”
David Lee/Netflix Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman in ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’
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After opening up about the pain of Boseman’s death, Coogler said, “We continue to carry him with us. Chad was a star deserving of a star on the Walk of Fame, but he was also our most incredible jewel. He reflected light, he refracted it, and when he did, he showed the greatness of our people, and the universe of our shared humanity. Thank you, Chad.”
During his two-decade career, Boseman received various accolades for films including 42, Da 5 Bloods, and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, but he was best known for his history-making role as T’Challa, the first Black superhero to headline a film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The prince (and later king) of Wakanda made his debut in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War before taking center stage in the Coogler-directed solo film which not only broke box office records but became the first superhero film to earn an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. Boseman went on to reprise the role in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. Following his death, the Black Panther sequel Wakanda Forever was reworked and eventually arrived in late 2022, paying special tribute to the actor and his character by bidding farewell to both.
Watch the full Walk of Fame star ceremony above.
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