Angela Bassett and Chadwick Boseman’s Pre-Black Panther Connection

Chadwick Boseman and Angela Bassett’s paths first crossed in 2000 when Boseman was about to graduate from Howard University. He earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in directing, and Bassett was invited to deliver the commencement speech. When Boseman visited “Live with Kelly and Ryan” in 2018, he discussed the “full circle” moment of how Bassett was the one who spoke at his own graduation, and they were now starring together in “Black Panther”. After Boseman’s death in 2020, Bassett reflected on this incredible coincidence and how he had reminded her of the 2000 graduation ceremony. She wrote in an emotional tribute that it was meant for them to be connected and family, and that during the premiere party for Black Panther, Boseman had whispered to her that he had been the student assigned to escort her on the day she received her honorary degree from Howard University.