Denzel Washington recalls how Chadwick Boseman's wife watched her husband with love in her eyes as the two men worked on Boseman's final film.
The Black Panther star died at age 43 in August after a private four-year-long battle with colon cancer that most people did not know about, including his colleagues on the Netflix film. One person that was well-aware of his diagnosis: Taylor Simone Ledward, the actor's girlfriend at the time.
"Credit to him, he kept it to himself, it was nobody's business. He was there to deliver and he delivered," Washington, a producer of the film, told CBS Sunday Morning in an interview released on Sunday, Dec. 13. "Certain members of his team knew. His wife was there. They weren't even married yet."
"I used to watch how she took care of him and I actually said to him, I said, 'Man, you need to put a ring on that finger,'" he said. "Because she kept her eye on him and she watched him. I'm like, man she loves that guy. But I didn't know what we know now."
Washington added, "He did all he could do with what he was given and he left it here for us to enjoy. Chad will live forever. Period.
Aside from his cancer battle, Boseman also kept the rest of his personal life, including his relationships, largely private. He and Ledward first sparked romance rumors in 2015 and attended a few celebrity events together over the years.
The couple reportedly got engaged in late 2019. In August, Boseman's family announced his death in a statement that noted that he "died in his home, with his wife and family by his side."
In Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Boseman plays a trumpet player alongside Viola Davis. The movie is set to start streaming on Netflix on Dec. 18.
"I feel deeply, deeply blessed that I was a part of his journey in working on this film," director George C. Wolfe said on CBS Sunday Morning about Boseman. "I truly feel that way."
CBS Correspondent Tracy Smith told him it sounded like Boseman "gave until he could not give any more," to which Wolfe replied, "And then he gave some more. And then he gave some more."