Chadwick Boseman was awarded a posthumous Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama on Sunday night. The late actor won the category for his role in George C. Wolfe’s August Wilson adaptation Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
The Netflix film marked Boseman’s final project before he passed away on 28 August 2020 following a secret four-year battle with colon cancer. In the film, the Black Panther star acts alongside Viola Davis, playing trumpet player, Levee.
His widow Taylor Simone Ledward accepted the award, which is Boseman’s first Golden Globe nomination and win, honouring her late husband with an emotional speech. “He would thank God. He would thank his parents. He would thank his ancestors for their guidance and sacrifices,” she said. “He would say something beautiful, something inspiring. … I don’t have his words but we have to take all the moments to celebrate those we love.”
The award was virtually presented to Ledward by Renée Zellweger, who visibly struggled to hold back tears during the moving speech.
Boseman was nominated in the category alongside Riz Ahmed, who was nominated for Sound of Metal, Anthony Hopkins for The Father, Gary Oldman for Mank and Tahar Rahim for The Mauritanian.
The win could mark the first of many posthumous awards for Boseman this season, also nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Critics Choice Award. he’s also tipped for an Oscar, although 2021 nominations have yet to be revealed.
While Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom was Boseman’s last on-screen performance, the actor also lent his voice to upcoming Disney+ Marvel Cinematic Universe spinoff series What If…?, reprising his role as T’Challa from Black Panther.
