Honouring Chadwick Boseman with three of his most powerful roles
When you hear the name Chadwick Boseman, what comes to your mind first? For most people, it’s just a feeling. That pause (sigh) you take before you realise how much he changed the way we look at on-screen heroes. His presence had weight, even when he barely spoke.
And nostalgically, he still feels close, even years later. And last week, when he finally received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, it felt like everyone who ever watched him, even once, showed up emotionally.
The moment his family and friends gathered there, you could feel how loved he still is. Michael B. Jordan is standing beside his brothers. Viola Davis speaks about him like she still talks to him every day. Ryan Coogler looks proud in that silent way he does. It did not feel like a ceremony; it felt like a room full of people who never stopped carrying him.
And audiences are the same. People still rewatch his films and discover new things he was doing long before he became a global name. Clips of him go viral every now and then, and the comments always sound like people who miss him without saying the words out loud.
So yes, the star matters. But what Chadwick left behind matters more. And if you want to spend some time with his work again, here are three roles that tell you everything about why he is still talked about the way he is.
Three of the most powerful roles of Chadwick Boseman
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (George C. Wolfe, 2020)
This was his final performance, and you can feel that he gave it everything. Chadwick plays Levee, a musician who walks into a recording session with talent and hunger. He carries way more pain than he lets anyone see. He talks fast, jokes around, argues, and dreams, breaking down all within minutes, and he makes every part of it feel lived, not performed.
If you are an admirer of performative arts, this performance will mesmerise you. You won’t believe how sharp he is here. He plays Levee like a man who keeps trying to outrun his past while pretending he is not running at all. And the way he goes toe-to-toe with Viola Davis? You watch the scene; you forget to breathe for a second. Even if you did not know this was his last film, the performance itself tells you he knew exactly what he wanted to leave behind.
Message from the King (Fabrice Du Welz, 2016)
In Message from the King, Chadwick shifts into a very different space. He plays Jacob King, a man who shows up in Los Angeles looking for his sister, and from the moment he appears on screen, you can tell he is carrying more than he lets anyone see. He barely speaks, but every small expression tells you exactly what he is thinking, which is honestly one of the coolest things about this performance.
What makes this role stand out is how controlled he keeps it. Jacob is angry and confused, but Chadwick never pushes any of that forward. He plays him like a man who has made peace with whatever comes next, and that calm certainty makes the entire film feel heavier than the genre demands. You end up watching him more than the plot because you want to know what he is holding in, what he is remembering, and what he is choosing not to say. It is one of those roles where he lets silence do most of the work, and that makes it hit even harder.
Da 5 Bloods (Spike Lee, 2020)
Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods gives Chadwick the space to be something unforgettable. He plays Norman, the leader; the rest of the group still talks about him years after his death, and Chadwick steps into that role with such confidence that it makes you understand why they followed him. He appears mostly in memories, but he fills those scenes like someone who shaped the entire story without being there physically.
The beauty of this performance is how warm it feels, even when the film itself gets rough. Norman shows up in flashes, and Chadwick plays him with such ease that it makes you believe he held that group together. Every time he appears, the tone shifts a little, and it is always because of him, not the moment. You feel the respect the characters had for him, and by the end, you get why Norman stayed alive in their memories for so long.