8 Things You Never Knew About 'Black Panther' Star Chadwick Boseman
If you don't know the name Chadwick Boseman, prepare to get familiar. The actor goes full movie star as T'Challa, AKA the Black Panther in "Black Panther," which hits theaters Friday. If you want to know more about the man behind Marvel's latest legend, check out these eight facts about Boseman.
The Palmetto State
Chadwick Boseman was born on November 29, 1976, in Anderson, South Carolina.
Multi-Talented
Chadwick graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Directing from Howard University. He is also a grad of the British American Dramatic Academy at Oxford, England.
Director From the Start
Boseman began as a director and got into acting to get to know his subjects better. "I started out as a writer and a director. I started acting because I wanted to know how to relate to the actors. When people ask me what I do, I don’t really say that I’m an actor, because actors often wait for someone to give them roles," he told The Independent in 2012.
Playwright Skills
Chadwick wrote the play Deep Azure, which premiered in Chicago in 2005, which was nominated for a Joseph Jefferson Award for Best New Play.
TV Breakthrough
Chadwick kicked off his screen acting career on television in the early 2000s in shows like "All My Children," "Third Watch," and "Law & Order." He landed the series "Lincoln Heights" in 2008.
Based on a True Story...
He has starred in three major biopics -- as Jackie Robinson in "42," James Brown in "Get on Up," and Thurgood Marshall in "Marshall."
Guitar Guru
Although he's done his share of real-life portrayals, there's a certain musician he's open to taking on. “I would love to play Jimi Hendrix,” he told The Hollywood Reporter in 2013.
Committing to the Role
Boseman stayed in character on the set of "Get on Up," he explained to The Guardian. “If we took a break and you sat beside me to eat, you’d be eating with James Brown. Till I went home at night, it was JB.” It was reported that he had a similar approach while playing Black Panther.
