Soap opera alum Michael B. Jordan has penned an emotional tribute to his Black Panther costar, Chadwick Boseman, who sadly passed away from colon cancer on August 28. Jordan's moving post makes reference to their intertwined careers, which go all the way back to their time playing the same character on the daytime serial All My Children.
As Soap Central reported in 2018, Boseman's first credited role was the 2003 AMC character Reginald Porter, a tough kid from the mean streets of Pine Valley, who was being treated at the Front Street Clinic for a stab wound. When the police were called in, Reggie held Anna Devane (Finola Hughes) at scissor-point. A week or so later, Jordan took over the role (AMC called it taking the character "in a new direction"), and he played the character for the next three years, during which time Reggie was adopted by Jackson Montgomery (Walt Willey) and thus had soap icon Erica Kane (Susan Lucci) as his stepmother.
Boseman's passing has hit the world hard, and Jordan seems to have had a particularly tough time processing the tragic news. While many stars immediately paid tribute on social media, Jordan took a few days before finally sharing, "I've been trying to find the words, but nothing comes close to how I feel. I've been reflecting on every moment, every conversation, every laugh, every disagreement, every hug...everything. I wish we had more time."
He continues, "One of the last times we spoke, you said we were forever linked, and now the truth of that means more to me than ever. Since nearly the beginning of my career, starting with All My Children when I was 16 years old, you paved the way for me. You showed me how to be better, honor purpose, and create legacy. And whether you've known it or not... I've been watching, learning and constantly motivated by your greatness."
Jordan also references the fact that Boseman had been privately struggling with colon cancer for the past four years and is a superhero for the way he handled his hardships.
"Everything you've given the world -- the legends and heroes that you've shown us we are -- will live on forever. But the thing that hurts the most is that I now understand how much of a legend and hero YOU are," Jordan writes. "Through it all, you never lost sight of what you loved most. You cared about your family , your friends, your craft, your spirit. You cared about the kids, the community, our culture and humanity. You cared about me. You are my big brother, but I never fully got a chance to tell you, or to truly give you your flowers while you were here."
Jordan's post ends with a public declaration that he promises to carry out the rest of his days in honor of Boseman.
"I'm more aware now than ever that time is short with people we love and admire," he writes. "I'm gonna miss your honesty, your generosity, your sense of humor, and incredible gifts. I'll miss the gift of sharing space with you in scenes. I'm dedicating the rest of my days to live the way you did. With grace, courage, and no regrets. 'Is this your king!?' Yes . he . is! Rest In Power Brother."
Boseman rarely spoke about his time on All My Children, but he did reference it during a joint interview with Jordan in the January 2019 edition of The Wrap's Oscar magazine. The actor, who was 26 at the time that he landed the role of Reggie, says he bristled at the stereotypical nature of the part and complained to the producers, who promptly dismissed him and brought in Jordan, then 16.
"It's one of those things where you get a role, and you don't really know," Boseman said of why he accepted the AMC role in the first place. "When I got it, I was like, 'This is not part of my manifesto. This is not part of what I want to do. How can I make it work?' Because with a soap opera, you don't know the full scope of what's gonna happen -- you don't know where they're gonna take the character, because they don't always know where the character is going. And because of that, there's possibly room for me to adjust this and change it and make it so it's stereotypical on the page but not on the screen."
Boseman continued, "I remember going home and thinking, 'Do I say something to them about this? Do I just do it?' And I couldn't just do it. I had to voice my opinions and put my stamp on it."
The good thing, according to Boseman, is that even though his complaints got him fired, they spurred the producers to change Reggie a little bit so he wasn't written as stereotypical when Jordan took over the role -- which Jordan says was awesome to hear.
"I'm younger than Chad, and I was coming into All My Children fresh off The Wire -- wide open, still learning. I was playing this role not knowing that a lot of the things I was going through were because of what he'd already done for me," he said. "It's hard to speak in the moment about how things we do can affect other people. But this is a pure example, right here on the spot -- we ain't never talked about this before a day in our lives -- to understand how what people do now can directly affect what other people do in the future. And the work that we're doing on Black Panther is hopefully doing the same thing for the next group of actors that are coming up, just like our predecessors opened up doors and made things easier for us."
Check out a Boseman's episode of AMC below and let us know in our Comments section at the end of the article if you remember watching the scenes when they originally aired back in 2003.
Following his brief stint on All My Children, Boseman went on to appear in television series like Third Watch, Law & Order, and ER before landing major films like Black Panther, Captain America: Civil War, Marshall, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, 21 Bridges, and Da 5 Bloods. He is also a star in the upcoming film Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, which is currently in post-production.
Jordan starred on AMC from 2003 to to 2006 before going on to superstardom in films like Fruitvale Station, Fantastic Four, and Black Panther. Some of his other upcoming projects include Wrong Answer, a film based on the Atlanta Public Schools cheating scandal; a second remake of The Thomas Crown Affair; a Denzel Washington-directed film called Journal for Jordan; Creed III, which is part of the Rocky spin-off franchise; and an undisclosed role in an upcoming David O. Russell drama starring Christian Bale and Margot Robbie.
How do you feel about Michael B. Jordan's emotional tribute to Chadwick Boseman? Do you remember Chadwick Boseman's time on All My Children? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
