Los Angeles, Mar 1: Chadwick Boseman was posthumously honoured with a Golden Golden for his performance as the strong-willed trumpet player Levee who marches to his own beat in the musical period drama “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”, the actor’s swansong.
Boseman, who died in August at the age of 43 following a four year-long private battle with colon cancer, won the award in the best performance by an actor in a motion picture category.
The actor’s wife, Taylor Simone Ledward, accepted the award on his behalf in a Zoom call.
“He would thank God. He would thank his parents. He would thank his ancestors for their guidance and their sacrifices. He would thank his incredible team, on and off set.
“He would say something beautiful, something inspiring. Something that would amplify that voice inside all of us that tells you, you can (do it), that helps you to keep going. That calls you back to what you are meant to be doing at this moment in history,” an emotional Ledward said.
An adaptation of August Wilson’s award-winning play, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” follows Ma, a famous blues singer as she makes a record in a studio in 1927 Chicago, where tension boils over among her, her white agent and bandmates.
Boseman played Levee, an ambitious trumpeter who aspired to make his own mark in the music industry.
The story explores the issues of race, art, religion and the exploitation of black recording artistes at the hands of white producers.
The film is directed by George C Wolfe and co-produced by Denzel Washington.
Continuing the address, Ledward said Boseman would have thanked Wolfe, Washington, his co-stars and “lots of people at Netflix”.
“And I don’t have his words,” she said fighting back tears.
“But we have to take a moment to celebrate those who we love. So thank you, HFPA for this opportunity to do exactly that. And honey, you keep them coming,” Ledward said.
It’s the first Golden Globe win for Boseman, who achieved global stardom as King T’Challa of fictitious African country Wakanda aka superhero Black Panther in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Much before 2018’s “Black Panther”, the actor had made a name for himself by playing iconic black historical figures like baseball star Jackie Robinson in “42”, singer-songwriter James Brown in “Get on Up” and the first African-American Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall in “Marshall”.
Gary Oldman for “Mank”, Riz Ahmed for “The Sound of Metal”, Anthony Hopkins for “The Father”, and Tahar Rahim for “The Mauritanian” were the other nominees in the category. (PTI)
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