Chadwick Boseman: Josh Gad remembers his late costar

Chadwick Boseman texted his Marshall co-star Josh Gad to ‘enjoy the simplicities of God’s creation’ only a few months ago.

The Black Panther lead died this Friday at the age of 43 after privately struggling against colon cancer for four years.

In response to the tragedy Josh, 39, tweeted a screen-grab of a warm text he received from Chadwick three weeks into the coronavirus lockdowns.

Entitled ‘CATCH THE RAIN,’ the lengthy message began: ‘If you are in Los Angeles, you woke up this morning to the rare and peaceful sound of a steady precipitation.’

He continued: ‘If you’re like me, maybe you looked at the week’s forecast and found that it’s supposed to rain for three straight days; not without breaks of sunlight and reprieves of moist bloom, but yeah it’s gonna be coming down like cats and dogs.’

Chadwick noted: ‘Great. We’re stuck inside these damn quarantines because of the Covid, and now we can’t even get no sun in Cali. Come on now!’

He went on: ‘But now that the rain has stopped and today’s storm has cleared, I urge you to go outside and take a DEEP breath. 

‘Notice how fresh the air is right now, after our skies have had a 3 week break from the usual relentless barage of fumes from bumper to bumper LA commuters, and now today’s rain has given the City of Angels a long overdo and much-needed shower,’ Chadwick urged.

‘Inhale and exhale this moment, and thank God for the unique beauties and wonders of this day. We should take advantage of every moment we can to enjoy the simplicity of God’s creation, whether it be clear skies and sun or clouded over with gloom,’ wrote the Marvel Cinematic Universe star. 

‘And hey, if the air is this clear right now, and it does rain tomorrow, I might even put jars and bins out and catch the rain. Throw that in the water filter and I have a water more alkaline than any bottled brand out there.’

His family’s statement Friday revealed: ‘Chadwick was diagnosed with stage III colon cancer in 2016, and battled with it these last 4 years as it progressed to stage IV.’ 

Josh posted an Instagram video that night saying tearfully: ‘There aren’t words to express what an amazing human being Chadwick Boseman was. You come upon people in your life who are next-level good.’

He shared: ‘This was a man who was beyond talented and was so unbelievably giving as a – not only as a performer, but as a human being. Beyond just being Black Panther, Chadwick was T’Challa in real life. He was somebody who just gave and gave and gave and never stopped giving.’

Josh went on: ‘2020 has been so devastating for so many reasons. This one hurts because it’s taking away somebody who’s honestly one of the greats.’

He concluded: ‘I don’t know how to process this but wanna send my love to his entire family and to all the fans out there. He’s gonna be missed. Love you guys. Stay safe. And Chadwick, rest in peace, my friend. Love you.’

The 2017 movie Marshall starred Chadwick as the legendary Thurgood Marshall, the lawyer who fought and won Brown v. Board Of Education as NAACP chief counsel in 1954 and then became the first black U.S. Supreme Court Justice.

The movie is about the 1940 case State Of Connecticut v. Joseph Spell in which Marshall defended a black chauffeur accused of raping his white female boss.

Josh played the lawyer Sam Friedman who joined Marshall in defending Spell and ultimately secured his acquittal in the highly publicized case.

Chadwick also played other historic figures in biopics including Jackie Robinson in 42 and James Brown in Get On Up.