Four months after his death shocked the world, trailblazing actor Chadwick Boseman makes his heartbreaking, hotly Oscar-tipped final film appearance in 1920s blues drama “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.”
The “Black Panther” star portrays a feisty, irreverent horn player struggling to make himself heard in a Chicago music world riddled with racism and exploitation, in the August Wilson play adaptation on Netflix.
Boseman’s role as the piece’s tragic hero takes on added poignancy by his death at age 43 this August from colon cancer — a diagnosis he never publicly discussed, or even shared with his co-stars during production.
Viola Davis, who plays the real-life “Mother of the Blue…
Keep on reading: Chadwick Boseman tipped for posthumous glory with ‘Ma Rainey’ swansong