Chadwick Boseman Quotes

As conflicted as I was before I lost the job, as adamant as I was about the need to speak truth to power, I found myself even more conflicted afterwards. I stand here today knowing that my Howard University education prepared me to play Jackie Robinson, James Brown, Thurgood Marshall and T'Challa. But what do you do when the principle and the standards that were instilled in you here at Howard closed the doors in front of you. Sometimes you need to get knocked down before you can really figure out what your fight is and how you need to fight it.

The thing I love about Marvel in general is that they deal with people. They deal with the human being first: Who is inside the suit? Who is the person that obtained this power or this ability? This movie is about how you use power. What do you do when you get power? In this case, you're talking about someone taking the throne. But all superhero movies are about a person who has extreme power. They can disappear. They do tricks or they can jump really high. Whatever it is, that ability gives them an advantage. The only difference between a hero and the villain is that the villain chooses to use that power in a way that is selfish and hurts other people.

The best advice about getting older? Just be thankful you're not dead!

Throughout ancient times, institutions of learning have been built on top of hills to convey that great struggle is required to achieve degrees of enlightenment. Each of you had your own unique difficulties with the hill. For some of you, the challenge was actually academics. When you hear the words Magna Cum Laude, Cum Laude, you know that’s not you. That’s not you. You worked hard. You did your best, but you didn’t make As or Bs, sometimes Cs. You never made the Dean’s list, but that’s okay. You are here on top of the hill.

If you’re working as a writer, that doesn’t necessarily take you down the role of being a movie star. I said yes too much. I said yes to certain projects that weren’t for me. It was somebody else’s vision and somebody else’s dream and somebody else’s artistic endeavor, but it didn’t necessarily fit in my grand scheme. I was just trying to be around the people who do what I want to do, and you know, I think it takes a little bit more investigation to figure out, does this road actually lead to what I want? I remember my first agent telling me — because they found me as an actor, but I was probably more interested in writing and maybe directing — they were like, "Well, you can’t do both things." And I was like, "I’m gonna show you." And the truth of the matter is that we were both right. But you know, you have to choose a very clear path for your entry point, and then, once you define yourself as that clearly, you can venture off into other arenas, but especially at the beginning.

It's a utopia. It's not just an African utopia — it's a utopia. It's a place where spirituality and science do not war with each other.

If anyone doesn't think there's a place for women in tech, it's completely demolished in this movie. Her role is the most important. In the comic book, T'Challa is a scientist and a king, but my sister is the whiz kid. She is the one with that gift. She's the Tony Stark of Wakanda. She's witty, she's cool, she's funny. Now, T'Challa is good in science too, but she's the whiz. That's the way the story's been told forever. T'Challa is technologically sound. He's a scientist as well, but she's the minister of technology.

I think you realize how much you need to have people that you love. It's not as much about them loving you — it's about you needing to love people, you needing to have people that you can ert[sic — (perhaps "exert")] that energy toward. You have to have those people.

I was waiting to hear about 42. Nobody had called me. Nobody had told me anything. I had gone in for it 100 percent, but there was no reason for me to think I’d done well. Nobody had called me and said, "Hey, they really liked your audition." Nobody was like, "Hey, they’re really thinking about you." Nothing. But on that night, the play I was directing ended, and I went next door to a bar and was watching the end of the World Series, and I was like, "Yo, I’m about to get this role," and I knew it. And that was the night they called me. Just like — boom! — "It’s yours." … That year before 42, every pilot I went in for, it was like, "You’re gonna test for it and then somebody else will get it." It was a frustrating year, because I was so close to getting things that would have taken me to another place. But it was never actually happening. For some reason I couldn’t get anything. I only later realized that it was some divine intervention, because if I did some of those things, I wouldn’t have been available. You don’t get stuff, and it opens up other opportunities. But no, it’s not like I’d been waiting around for only the biggest roles.

When they call you and say, "So you want to play Black Panther?" if you know what Black Panther is, there's no way in the world you're going to say no because there's a lot of opportunity for magic to happen.

For me, technology is not about gadgets. Technology is essentially your ability to enhance your lifestyle beyond the norm. What I would love to see is for technology and nature to find a way to merge. If that happens in our society, we will have gone to a different place and we can advance the species. … If we're going to build a rocket to go to outer space and go to the moon, how do we do that in a way where it doesn't destroy the Earth? How do we build weapons that won't destroy the Earth? Or the better way, how do you live in a society that doesn't need weapons at all? How can we advance in this computer age without having landfills filled with the parts from those things? That to me, that's advanced.

Howard University, I was riding here and I heard on the radio, somebody called it Wakanda University. But it has many names, the Mecca, the Hilltop. It only takes one hour, one tour of the physical campus to understand why we call it the Hilltop. Every day is leg day here.

When I dared to challenge the system that would relegate us to victims and stereotypes with no clear historical backgrounds, no hopes or talents, when I questioned that method of portrayal, a different path opened up for me, the path to my destiny. When God has something for you, it doesn’t matter who stands against it. God will move someone that’s holding you back away from the door and put someone there who will open it for you if it’s meant for you. I don’t know what your future is, but if you are willing to take the harder way, the more complicated one, the one with more failures at first than successes, the one that has ultimately proven to have more meaning, more victory, more glory then you will not regret it. Now, this is your time. The light of new realizations shines on you today. Howard’s legacy is not wrapped up in the money that you will make, but the challenges that you choose to confront. As you commence to your paths, press on with pride and press on with purpose. God bless you. I love you, Howard. "Howard forever!"

Once I saw the role I was playing, I found myself conflicted. The role wasn’t necessarily stereotypical. A young man in his formative years with a violent streak pulled into the allure of gang involvement. That’s somebody’s real story. Never judge the characters you play. That’s what we were always taught. That’s the first rule of acting. Any role play honestly, can be empowering, but I was conflicted because this role seemed to be wrapped up in assumptions about us as black folk. The writing failed to search for specificity. Plus, there was barely a glimpse of positivity or talent in the character, barely a glimpse of hope. I would have to make something out of nothing. I was conflicted. Howard had instilled in me a certain amount of pride and for my taste this role didn’t live up to those standards.

Once you start getting big roles as an actor, everything pays. So what are you making decisions on? It’s about the director or the script or whatever. But before you reach that point, you’re taking jobs with, say, a theater company, in spite of the fact that it’s not paying your bills. I think the most stressful time of my life was when I was in New York and I didn’t have money to pay my rent. I was going to the mailbox every day waiting for the check to come. When you don’t have money, when you’ve got, like, a jar full of change and each day it’s "Okay, I’ve got enough to get on the train" and "Maybe that check’s gonna come today..." There’s nothing more stressful than your stomach growling. But interestingly enough, some of my best writing came when I was poor and hungry — living off water and oatmeal, mind clear.