- Letitia Wright felt Chadwick Boseman's presence on the set of "Black Panther" 2.
- The pair played siblings in the original Marvel Studios film, prior to Boseman's death in 2020.
Letitia Wright said she could feel Chadwick Boseman's presence on the set of "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," which hit theaters on Friday.
The British actor, 29, formed a close bond with Boseman after they starred as brother and sister Shuri and King T'Challa in "Black Panther" in 2018. Boseman died in 2020 aged 43 from colon cancer.
In a recent interview with the Evening Standard, Wright opened up about the difficulties of returning to the set of "Black Panther" without the film's leading man.
"It was painful going back on set without Chad," she said. "I could feel his presence."
"It was one of the toughest projects I've done in 10 years of my career. I tried to make him proud. I miss him daily. It is still not real to me that he is not here."
Wright also said she and her castmates, who include Lupita Nyong'o and Angela Bassett, acknowledged they were all going through the grieving process: "You can't master grief, but you have to try and find ways not to let it overtake you."
It's not the first time Wright touched on the impact of Boseman's death. In her Variety cover story, Wright told the magazine his death sent her on a "downward spiral." She was unable to be at his private memorial in the US due to coronavirus restrictions at the time.
"It haunted me for months that I couldn't say goodbye to him or be around my 'Black Panther' family to share in that moment," she said. "I kind of had to do that by myself."
In the lead-up to the release of the film's sequel, other cast members have also been reflecting on what it was like to lose Boseman.
Martin Freeman, 51, told Sky News on November 5 that losing Boseman was "awful" but that it taught him a vital lesson.
"You can never complain again, you can't complain about 'Oh we've been waiting around a bit long or my tea is a bit cold'," he said. "When people are capable of this superhuman act of fortitude."
"Losing him was awful," Freeman said. "It was dreadful the manner in which we lost him, but it was also inspirational."