America lost a great actor with Chadwick Boseman’s death but his performances are forever.
Being an actor is a hard dollar. It is a litany of rejection, of “no thank you” without the “thank you.” It is waking up every day after having been told no and believing that a yes is coming. There are two types, those who are just delusional and those who just need their chance. Chadwick Boseman was the latter and we should all be grateful that he got his chance because he gave us performances that will not only outlive his too short life, but also all of ours. I would like to be able to explain why some people sparkle on stage and screen and others don’t. I can’t. It is metaphysical magic; it captures us precisely because we can’t explain it. And Boseman had whatever that elusive thing is in spades. You had to watch him. You can’t teach that, it’s a natural gift that he exuded in every role he played. Boseman was best known for playing two superheroes, one real and one imagined. Playing Jackie Robinson in “42” Boseman captured the tortured heroism of the first black man in Major League Baseball. He brought through the silver screen the great triumph that was Robinson’s career, but also the toll that blazing that trail took on him.
