Chadwick Boseman teared up discussing meaning of ‘Black Panther’ to boys with cancer

Two years ago, Chadwick Boseman broke down in tears as he described his friendship with two little boys who were dying from cancer — and the clip is newly heartbreaking given his own secret health struggle at the time. In the poignant clip, Boseman, who died of colon cancer at age 43 on Friday, fought …

Two years ago, Chadwick Boseman broke down in tears as he described his friendship with two little boys who were dying from cancer — and the clip is newly heartbreaking given his own secret health struggle at the time.

In the poignant clip, Boseman, who died of colon cancer at age 43 on Friday, fought to keep his composure while talking about the boys’ eagerness to see “Black Panther,” the Marvel comic blockbuster for which he played the titular role.

The boys, named Ian and Taylor, had fought to live long enough to see the movie.

Boseman, who had been diagnosed with his own cancer in 2016, loses his composure as he appears on the brink of saying that the boys died before the movie’s release.

“When I found out that they — ” he says during the SiriusXM interview with Sway Calloway.

After a long pause, Boseman, his eyes wet with tears, can say merely, “So yeah, it means a lot.”

The clip was tweeted out by @ChicksInTheOff.

This 2018 clip of Chadwick Boseman getting emotional about the impact Black Panther had on two little kids with terminal cancer is especially heartbreaking, knowing now that he was fighting the same fight. RIP. pic.twitter.com/5giV543c8L

— Chicks in the Office (@ChicksInTheOff) August 29, 2020

Boseman says earlier in the interview that as the movie was being filmed, the children’s parents said the kids were fighting to survive because they desperately wanted to see “Black Panther.”

“It’s a humbling experience,” he said.

“Because, you’re like, ‘This can’t mean that much to them.’ But seeing how the world has taken this on, seeing how the movement, how it’s taken on a life of its own — I realized that they anticipated something great.”

Boseman said he was reminded of when he was a child waiting for Christmas, or a new video game.

“I did live life waiting for those moments. And so what put me back in the mind of being a kid just two experience those two little boys’ anticipation for this movie and when I found out they…” Boseman said, cutting himself off.

He then rested his chin on his hand as tears swelled in his eyes.

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