Ryan Coogler gives an emotional speech at Chadwick Boseman's posthumous Hollywood Walk of Fame star ceremony

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https://www.maximotv.com  Filmmaker Ryan Coogler gives an emotional speech at the posthumous unveiling ceremony of Chadwick Boseman's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Thursday, November 20, 2025, at 6904 Hollywood Boulevard in front of the Hollywood Experience in Los Angeles, California, USA.  This video is available for editorial use in all media and worldwide. To ensure compliance and proper licensing of this video, please contact us at https://www.maximotv.com.  🇺🇸

Transcript

00:00Please welcome Ryan Coogler to the stage.

00:07Hey, what's up everybody, uh, when I ask that you guys bear with me,

00:36I never had to speak about Chadwick directly since, um, since his passion.

00:43Um, so I'm gonna do my best.

00:55Right on.

00:58I'm good. I'm good. Just, just struggling a bit.

01:02Uh, when I think of Chadwick Boseman, I think of three things.

01:14Leadership, teaching, and generosity.

01:22He was an incredible leader.

01:24He was fearless, infirm, yet gentle in his leadership.

01:31Chadwick was ageless.

01:34I never really knew how old he was until I went to one of his birthday parties.

01:39Um, um, he had this incredible, uh, youthful look to him.

01:47But being around him, you got the, I always got the sense that I was around someone incredibly old.

01:53And I'm not talking baby boomer or silent generation.

01:59Chad felt thousands of years old.

02:02He was that calm and that wise.

02:06It was a very unnerving feeling to be around him.

02:09Our first time together, we were completely alone.

02:12And he somehow snuck into a, into a, uh, a hotel room I was in during a, a massive press tour for Creed.

02:20Sylvester Stallone was there.

02:22The great Michael B. Jordan was there.

02:23The great Texas Thompson was there.

02:24It was, it was crawling with press.

02:27But he got by all of them.

02:29For us to have a one-on-one meeting to talk about working together, uh, on Black Panther.

02:34And I was so impressed by that.

02:37I asked him how he got past everybody.

02:39And he smiled at me and said, that was the Panther.

02:41I didn't know what to make of him.

02:52When we started talking, he quickly shared with me that he felt that he could say things

03:01to me that he couldn't say to other people in the industry.

03:04And I cut him off and told him that I felt the same way.

03:08But when you're around childhood, you think about old sayings and phrases that maybe older people would taught you in life.

03:14I often think about a phrase my father told me when it comes to his leadership style.

03:20My dad would always say more is caught than taught.

03:23Meaning if you sit somebody down and try to, and try to teach them a lesson or show them how to do something.

03:27You know, maybe they hear it, maybe they won't.

03:29But if you actually do the action, if you actually live it, then they will see it.

03:34And be motivated to try to duplicate it.

03:40Chad was an incredibly humble teacher.

03:43He taught in that way.

03:44You never knew you were learning a lesson.

03:46I remember one day I was having a conversation with him about a particularly tense moment that he had on set.

03:53And he told me in his Wakandan accent, I'll call you when I get to home.

04:01And he did.

04:02And we talked.

04:03And he said something during that conversation that I never forgot.

04:07He said something happened.

04:08And he said, Ryan, when this happened, I had to really manage my emotions and take a step back.

04:14I never forgot that.

04:15I never heard these words shared together.

04:17Manage your emotions.

04:19And I'll tell you guys right now.

04:21I'm a father of three kids.

04:23And my wife, Zinji, can attest to you.

04:25I say this to my children every day.

04:27Today, going to class, you got to manage your emotions.

04:29Hey, mom and dad got to go down to LA to do something for Uncle Chadwick.

04:32I know you're sad, but you got to manage your emotions and still take it to school today.

04:35The biggest pillar of Chad, even in comparison to his incredible leadership and his teaching,

04:47was his generosity.

04:49He was so generous.

04:52The very act of us meeting was an incredible gift in my life.

04:55But he was generous to other actors.

04:57This man, who already was cast as the Black Panther, he came to every single audition

05:02and every single callback that I asked him to come to.

05:05Sometimes he would be busy and we would schedule one and he would race across town

05:08and read across to other actors.

05:10He would come to every rehearsal.

05:12He even worked with the actor that was portraying him in a childhood role.

05:17He was incredibly generous with his time on set.

05:20Even though he was going through what he was going through, he would do his own stunts.

05:23He would be there for off-camera dialogue readings.

05:27It was incredible.

05:30But in all his generosity, Chad only gave me one physical gift.

05:39I don't know if Nate Moore is here.

05:41You got yours, bro?

05:42You got it?

05:43Not here.

05:44Not here.

05:45When we wrapped the movie, Black Panther, and I was convinced this movie was not going

05:49to work.

05:55Chad took my hand and he bent this copper bracelet around it.

06:02Check out Chad's brothers.

06:04His hands were massive.

06:05If you see his big brother Derrick, his hands are about the same size.

06:09But he took both hands.

06:10It was like a vice grip.

06:11You know what I mean?

06:12And what's crazy about Chadwick is I never have been strong enough to bend this thing.

06:23I actually thought I misplaced it and looked for it frantically after he died.

06:40I was actually ashamed to take a gift from him at the time.

06:45So I pulled it off and I stashed it somewhere, put it in a storage somewhere in the Bay Area

06:49because I took him for granted.

06:51I figured he'd always be around and the gift could be something I could get to later.

06:58But after he passed, I frantically looked through storage units, tried to find it, and I put

07:04it on and I tried to bend it, and it ended up snapping.

07:08So I had to have my assistant take it in to get it repaired.

07:11But they shined it up, and I figured I'd wear it for a special day.

07:15It ended up being today.

07:20But he gave me so many...

07:21Oh, I'm sorry.

07:26But he gave me and us so many other gifts.

07:29The gifts of his incredible performances, which inspired actors all over the world,

07:33which inspired the actors that we worked with.

07:36The gift of being close to greatness.

07:39This is something that people who maybe play ice hockey with Wayne Gretzky can attest to.

07:43Maybe people who play basketball with Michael Jordan can attest to.

07:46There's something special about being that close to somebody that great.

07:51You realize how much you don't measure up, but you also realize how much your human body is capable of.

07:56Chad showed that every day.

08:02And his generosity extended to the fact that even when he knew his days were limited,

08:09and his moments were numbered,

08:14he still gave to the art form.

08:17He still threw himself into the fire.

08:21Of close-ups across from Viola Davis.

08:27Of uplifting the beautiful dialogue of our ancestors.

08:34Of dedicating his time to his alma mater at Howard University.

08:46He passed.

08:47But like Viola said, he's still here.

08:51He's still kicking.

08:52He's still giving me gifts from beyond the grave.

08:54The gifts of hugs from his best friend, Logan.

08:58The gift of the friendship of his family.

09:00And the gifts of his wife, Simone.

09:05Who's from the Bay Area like me and Zinzi.

09:09Chad and I would always talk about spending time there when we was off.

09:13And I wrap it up with this last physical gift.

09:21One day I get a call from Simone.

09:23And she says, hey, I want to drop by and come see you.

09:26You and Zinzi.

09:27She came by our house in Oakland.

09:30And she had a bag of books.

09:33Not everybody know this about me, but I love books.

09:37She said these are from Chadwick's collection.

09:39And he didn't give me any specific ideas of what to do with these.

09:43But his spirit was on my heart.

09:46And he thought that these books would be for you.

09:51And every single book ended up being something that I needed.

09:55One of the books was actually a conversation that I had with Chadwick.

09:58When I was looking for action words for actors on set.

10:02It was just a glossary of action words for actors.

10:06I took that book with me when we made Sinners.

10:09And I kept it with me every day.

10:11We made sure I opened it.

10:14And I was able to give Mike probably the most important direction

10:18I could ever give any actor.

10:21When he was working on playing these twins with his dialect,

10:24that was challenging.

10:26I looked at him and said, what would Chadwick do?

10:30Chadwick would stay in the accent on set all day.

10:36Chadwick would uplift the other actors.

10:39And Mike looked at me.

10:41And nodded and said, he got it.

10:44We continue to carry him with us.

10:46Chadwick's a star.

10:48Deserving of a star on the Walk of Fame.

10:51But he was also our most incredible jewel.

10:58He reflected light.

11:00He refracted it.

11:01And when he did, he showed the greatness of our people

11:07in the universe of our shared humanity.

11:12Thank you, Chad.

11:13I did a great day before the partnership,

11:15so that we are still friends.

11:19If you turn into the next message,

11:20I'll give you back.

11:21Alright.

11:22That is my dream.

11:23Thanks, Sam.

11:24A lot of fun, man.

11:25I am a bit of fun.

11:26To be with you.

11:27If you will be with me.

11:28I hope you have a bug.

11:29This has a bug.

11:30You will never lose that woman.

11:31I have a bug.

11:32Bye.

11:33A've been a bug.

11:34We карт.

11:35Ainda, yeah?

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