Chadwick Boseman's Former Co-Stars Dedicate SAG Award Wins to the Late Actor

While the 2021 awards season makes its way into the final stretch before the Oscars, last night, celebrities gathered via Zoom to attend the 2021 SAG Awards. While accepting their respective awards, both Daniel Kaluuya and Viola Davis honored their late co-star Chadwick Boseman in each of their speeches.

Kaluuya, who worked with Boseman on the superhero film Black Panther, won Best Male Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance in Judas and the Black Messiah as Fred Hampton, the deputy chairman of the national Black Panther Party. In his speech, Kaluuya said, "This one's for Chadwick Boseman, and this one's for chairman Fred Hampton."

Boseman passed away in August 2020 after a four-year-long battle with colon cancer. Many of the actor's friends and none of the public were aware of his disease until his death.

His final film role was in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom alongside Viola Davis. The film was released posthumously on Netflix. When announced as the winner for Best Female Actor in a Leading Role, Davis was visibly shocked, almost falling out of her chair. While accepting the awards, the actress thanked her co-stars, including Boseman, saying, "I couldn't have been in better company. Thank you so much."

Boseman's own performance as Levee Green in the Netflix film won him a posthumous SAG award for Best Male Actor in a Leading Role, which his widow Taylor Simone Leward accepted on his behalf. After thanking Boseman's team and fellow cast and crew members, she shared a quote from her late husband: "If you see the world unbalanced, be a crusader that pushes heavily on the seesaw of the mind.”