Black Panther moved Denzel Washington to tears.
The two-time Oscar winner revealed in the new Apple TV+ documentary Number One On the Call Sheet that the 2018 Marvel film struck an emotional chord with him. Washington was performing in the Broadway production The Iceman Cometh at the time but managed to attend the Black Panther premiere, though he skipped the red carpet. “I cried a little bit when I saw Black Panther,” he admits.
“So I went backstage and I saw Chad [Chadwick Boseman] and Ryan [Coogler],” Washington shared in the documentary, according to People. “I spoke to them and then I sat down and watched the movie. And I felt like the baton had been passed. I was like, ‘Wow, these young boys are gone,’ you know.”
“I felt, I don’t know if the word is ‘relieved,’ but I was proud to see what they had done and seeing where they were headed,” he added.
The blockbuster went on to rake in over a billion dollars worldwide, which caught Washington by surprise, though he described the achievement as a “special moment.”
Back in the 1990s, Washington paid the summer acting program tuition for Boseman, who died from colon cancer in 2020, and eight other Howard University students. During a speech honoring Washington with the 47th AFI Life Achievement Award in 2019, Boseman declared “there is no ‘Black Panther'” without the legendary actor.
“And not just because of me but my whole cast, that generation stands on your shoulders,” Boseman said around the one-minute mark of the video above.
Last year, Washington let slip that he’ll be appearing in the third Black Panther film, though he later apologized for spilling the beans too early. But in a recent episode of the Nightcap podcast, Coogler confirmed he’s still saving a spot in BP3 for Washington.
“I’ve been dying to work with Denzel,” Coogler said around the 24-minute mark of the video below. “I’m hoping we can make that happen. I’ve got every intention of working with him on that movie. As long as he’s interested, man, it’s going to happen. He’s a living legend and a great mentor for so many of us. He’s all about looking out for us, now.”
