Lupita Nyong'o Still 'Filled with Grief' Over Chadwick Boseman: 'I Don't Know' If 'I'll Ever Be Done Shedding My Tears'

Mar. 15, 2025

Lupita Nyong’o’s grief over her friendChadwick Bosemanremains, four years after his death.During a BFI London Film Festival event on Monday, Oct. 14, theWild Robotvoice actress was shown a clip from the pair’s 2018 Marvel Studios blockbusterBlack Panther.Getting emotional after watching the footage, Nyong’o, 41, said after a pause, “The grief is just the love with no place to put it, right?““I don’t run away from the tears or the grief, you know? You just live with it. That experience will never be separate from the love that was formed,” she continued.Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human-interest stories.Chadwick Boseman and Lupita Nyong’o at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party in West Hollywood, California, on March 2, 2014.Jeff Vespa/VF14/WireImageAdditionally, Nyong’o revealed she hasn’t watchedBlack PanthersinceBoseman died at age 43in August 2020, after a four-year battle withcolon cancer.“I watch this clip and I’m filled with grief and I don’t know whether I’ll ever be done shedding my tears from losing my friend,” theAcademy Awardwinner said. “But I’m like, we get to see him alive. And that’s so wonderful.“This past August, Nyong’o — who played Nakia, a Wakandan warrior who has a romantic relationship with Boseman’s T’Challa, inBlack Panther— posted an Instagram tribute to her friend on thefour-year anniversary of his death.“ ‘Grief never ends. But it changes,’ " Nyong’o began her caption, sharing a black-and-white solo photo of Boseman and then a color snapshot ofthe two laughing together.” ‘It is a passage, not a place to stay. Grief is not a sign of weakness, nor a lack of faith. It’s the price of love.’ —unknown,” she added, concluding, “Remembering Chadwick Boseman. Forever.“Lupita Nyong’o and Chadwick Boseman in New York City on Feb. 27, 2018.Shahar Azran/WireImageBack in June, Nyong’o told PEOPLE about playing a woman with terminal cancer inA Quiet Place: Day One, saying it was “scary to have to go there” in a role where her character “is really facing their mortality, even before this apocalypse takes place, and whose life is slipping between her fingers.“And the added layer of having lost close friend and costar Boseman to cancer made it even more emotional for the actress.“In the end,it was actually very therapeuticbecause I had just experienced not too many years ago the death of Chadwick Boseman, which shook me to my core,” she said. “I definitely was thinking about that a lot.““What I came to realize is that it’s really important to be reminded of our mortality, because then we live life just a little more intentionally,” Nyong’o added at the time. “When we think we have all the time in the world, we can really take people for granted and experiences for granted.”

Lupita Nyong’o’s grief over her friendChadwick Bosemanremains, four years after his death.

During a BFI London Film Festival event on Monday, Oct. 14, theWild Robotvoice actress was shown a clip from the pair’s 2018 Marvel Studios blockbusterBlack Panther.

Getting emotional after watching the footage, Nyong’o, 41, said after a pause, “The grief is just the love with no place to put it, right?”

“I don’t run away from the tears or the grief, you know? You just live with it. That experience will never be separate from the love that was formed,” she continued.

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human-interest stories.

Chadwick Boseman and Lupita Nyong’o at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party in West Hollywood, California, on March 2, 2014.Jeff Vespa/VF14/WireImage

Jeff Vespa/VF14/WireImage

Additionally, Nyong’o revealed she hasn’t watchedBlack PanthersinceBoseman died at age 43in August 2020, after a four-year battle withcolon cancer.

“I watch this clip and I’m filled with grief and I don’t know whether I’ll ever be done shedding my tears from losing my friend,” theAcademy Awardwinner said. “But I’m like, we get to see him alive. And that’s so wonderful.”

This past August, Nyong’o — who played Nakia, a Wakandan warrior who has a romantic relationship with Boseman’s T’Challa, inBlack Panther— posted an Instagram tribute to her friend on thefour-year anniversary of his death.

“ ‘Grief never ends. But it changes,’ " Nyong’o began her caption, sharing a black-and-white solo photo of Boseman and then a color snapshot ofthe two laughing together.

" ‘It is a passage, not a place to stay. Grief is not a sign of weakness, nor a lack of faith. It’s the price of love.’ —unknown,” she added, concluding, “Remembering Chadwick Boseman. Forever.”

Lupita Nyong’o and Chadwick Boseman in New York City on Feb. 27, 2018.Shahar Azran/WireImage

Shahar Azran/WireImage

Back in June, Nyong’o told PEOPLE about playing a woman with terminal cancer inA Quiet Place: Day One, saying it was “scary to have to go there” in a role where her character “is really facing their mortality, even before this apocalypse takes place, and whose life is slipping between her fingers.”

And the added layer of having lost close friend and costar Boseman to cancer made it even more emotional for the actress.

“In the end,it was actually very therapeuticbecause I had just experienced not too many years ago the death of Chadwick Boseman, which shook me to my core,” she said. “I definitely was thinking about that a lot.”

“What I came to realize is that it’s really important to be reminded of our mortality, because then we live life just a little more intentionally,” Nyong’o added at the time. “When we think we have all the time in the world, we can really take people for granted and experiences for granted.”

source: people.com