During a conversation with Stephen Colbert on The Late Show Tuesday night, Janelle Monae recalled the last time she met the late Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman.
‘It was at an Oscars party and he tapped me on my shoulder. I’ll never forget it,’ the actress, 34, shared. ‘He tapped me and he said, ‘Let’s have this dance.’ And we danced for a good three, four minutes, smiling.’
No-one knew that Boseman had been diagnosed with colon cancer in 2016 and had undergone treatment while continuing to pursue his acting career.
Having kept his illness private, the world was shocked when it was announced on August 28 that he had succumbed to the disease. He was 43.
Recalling her last dance with him, Monae told Colbert: ‘I just remember that moment and I will always hold that dear to me and I will always try to live in the present because I saw him living in the present.’
Monae and Boseman had first met in Atlanta when he was filming the Marvel superhero movie and she was recording her album Dirty Computer.
They were introduced by Monae’s friend Lupita Nyong’o who starred with Boseman in Black Panther.