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Chadwick Boseman's Wife Accepts His Golden Globe Award With A Powerful Speech

The late actor won for his performance in 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom'.

Taylor Simone Ledward and Chadwick Boseman attend the "21 Bridges" New York Screening at AMC Lincoln Square Theater on November 19, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

Chadwick Boseman was awarded the Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama at the Golden Globe Awards on Sunday. Boseman won for his riveting performance as a talented jazz musician in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Other actors nominated in the category included: Riz Ahmed in The Sound of Metal, Anthony Hopkins in The Father, Gary Oldman in Mank, and Tahar Rahim in The Mauritanian, according to PEOPLE. The actor died on August 18, 2020, after a private four-year battle with colon cancer at the age of 43. His wife, Simone Ledward Boseman, gave an emotional acceptance speech on the Black Panther actor’s behalf.



 

“He would thank God. He would thank his parents. He would thank his ancestors for their guidance and their sacrifices,” Ledward Boseman said. “He would say something beautiful, something inspiring, something that would amplify that little voice inside of all of us that tells you, ‘You can,’ that tells you to keep going, that calls you back to what you are meant to be doing at this moment in history.” She also thanked Boseman’s co-stars, director George C. Wolfe, Netflix, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, his mentor Denzel Washington and costar Viola Davis. “I don’t have his words, but we have to take all the moments to celebrate those we love, so thank you HFPA, for this opportunity to do exactly that," she said. Ledward Boseman ended her speech with a message to her husband, saying, "And hon, you keep 'em coming."



 

Boseman played Levee in the film, his final role before his death. “It’s a very rigorous role,” said the film’s director, George C Wolfe, according to The Guardian. “And every single day, for every single take, he put his whole being into it. For every one of those raw, emotional scenes, I’m sure we did anywhere from five to 10 takes, and every single take he was fully invested. So I was as shocked, and saddened, as everybody else.” Viola Davis added, "I think he is going to be remembered as a hero. There's a part of the public that's going to associate that with Black Panther; I do not," she continued. "I associate that with his authenticity, especially in the midst of a profession that sometimes can suck that out of you." The Oscar winner, 55, said Boseman "was a person who lived a life bigger than themselves. I think that his legacy, his body of work, his integrity, is going to influence on generations upon generations to come."