Lupita Nyong'o Breaks Her Silence On Chadwick Boseman's Death

A week and a half after Chadwick Boseman's untimely death from colon cancer, his Black Panther co-star, Lupita Nyong'o, has broken her silence on his passing. The actress was in attendance at Boseman's memorial service (per The Sun) but has waited until now to post a heartbreaking tribute to Boseman on Instagram, along with a picture of the two.

"I write these words from a place of hopelessness, to honor a man who had great hope," wrote Nyong'o, who played Boseman's love interest in Black Panther. "I am struggling to think and speak about my friend, Chadwick Boseman, in the past tense. It doesn't make sense. The news of his passing is a punch to my gut every morning. I am aware that we are all mortal, but you come across some people in life that possess an immortal energy, that seem like they have existed before, that are exactly where they are supposed to always be – here! ... that seem ageless.... Chadwick was one of those people."

While Nyong'o and Boseman didn't know each other very long, they quickly became friends. "Chadwick was a man who made the most of his time, and somehow also managed to take his time," she wrote. "I didn't know him for long, but he had a profound effect on me in the time that I did... You got the sense that he was fully present and also somehow fully aware of things in the distant future. As a result, I noticed that Chadwick never seemed rushed! He commanded his time with ease.

Nyong'o also wrote about the impact Boseman had on the Black community. "He cared so deeply about humanity, about Black people, about his people," she said. "He activated our pride. By pushing through and working with such high purpose in the films he chose to commit to, Chadwick has made the infinite his home. We are all changed by his work as a result, by his presence in our lives. His power lives on and will reverberate for generations to come. He used his life force to tell meaningful stories. And now we tell his..."

She concluded her touching message with a vow to honor his legacy. "Chadwick's death is something that I can neither take in nor take in my stride right now," Nyong'o wrote. "Perhaps with time... I'm going to take my time... and in his honor, I promise not to waste my time. I hope you will do the same. My deepest condolences to his family, friends, and to his loving wife, Simone, from whom I heard this phrase articulated so resonantly: #TakeYourTimeButDontWasteYourTime."