August 28 marks one year since Chadwick Boseman passed away at the age of 43, four years after being diagnosed with stage III colon cancer.
Actress Lupita Nyong’o, who played Boseman’s King T’Challa’s love interest Nakia in the hit superhero blockbuster Black Panther, took to Instagram to share a heartbreaking tribute to her friend and colleague.
Along with her touching words of sorrow, the actress posted a heartwarming photo of the two actors bursting into laughter while standing in an empty hallway.
‘I did not know that I could miss both his laughter and his silence in equal measure. I do. I do…,’ she began in the caption with obvious emotion in her words.
The photo shows Boseman leaning up against a wall, looking almost childlike, with a big beaming smile on his face, and his hands clenched in front of chest like he was about to let his friend in on a hilarious secret.
Nyong’o, 38, can be seen taking in the actor’s energy, with her right hand on his side, and an equally infectious smile, as she gently touched his leg with her other hand.
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Boseman was diagnosed with stage III colon cancer in 2016, which eventually progressed to stage IV before 2020.
Opting to keep his diagnosis private, the South Carolina native revealed his condition to only a handful of non-family members, who knew varying degrees of knowledge about the severity of his condition.
Despite enduring multiple surgeries and chemotherapy, he would continue to work and complete a number of films after his diagnosis, including Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, 21 Bridges, Da 5 Bloods and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
Boseman died at his Los Angeles home as a result of complications related to colon cancer on August 28, 2020, with his wife, Taylor Simone Ledward, and family by his side.