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?
