The late great Chadwick Boseman was born on November 29, 1976. Chadwick Aaron Boseman was a very talented actor and an inspiration to the black community. He attended the illustrious Howard University in Washington D.C. and graduated in 2000 with a Bachelor’s of Arts degree. A lot of people have been introduced to Mr.Boseman from one of his recent projects Black Panther. However, he has been creating works of art as far back as 1994 and he has played diverse roles. Chadwick’s reach goes beyond the movie screen and beyond the characters he embodies. On August 28th Chadwick Aaron Boseman moved on after a 4 year battle with colon cancer.
The definition of “range” is the area of variation between upper and lower limits on a scale. When an actor or actress has range, it means they’ve played a variety of different roles and done so exceptionally. When it comes to range, it’s not enough to just have played different types of characters, you have to be able to show the depth of those characters. In this article, you will read about 3 aspects that highlight Chadwick Boseman’s range.
- Biopics
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Chadwick Boseman is the lead in a couple of biopic films. Get On Up Is about the life of James Brown becoming one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. Marshall tells the story of young Thurgood Marshall when he was a lawyer for the NAACP. 42 tells about the story of Jackie Robinson (played by Chadwick Boseman) and his journey to and with the Brooklyn Dodgers. To celebrate Jackie Robinson Day (April 15th) and the launch of Thomas Tull’s Operation42, Chadwick donated 4.2 million dollars in personal protection equipment to hospitals that service African American communities that were hit the hardest by COVID-19.
- The Hero Complex
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Being a hero is much more than just beating up bad guys. A hero is also someone with humility and integrity. Chadwick Boseman has played different types of heroes. Along with playing T’Challa in Black Panther, he was also Andre Davis an NYPD detective in 21 Bridges, Stormin one of the first black Vietnam war soldiers in ‘Da 5 Bloods’, and Lt. Samuel Drake in ‘The Kill Hole’.
- Authentic Displays of Emotion
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One of the most challenging things about acting is being able to give a realistic display of emotions. In film black men are often portrayed as hypersexual monsters who express their emotions through acts of violence but Chadwick Boseman has shown multiple times that he can show the worst pain and the greatest joy to create a captivating scene. Some notable mentions include a scene from ‘Message From the King’ where Chadwick’s character sees a disturbing image of a loved one, the vibrant energy he has as on stage as James Brown and as Levee in the 2020 film ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.’
If you have never seen these films I encourage you to watch them.