Chadwick Boseman Earns Posthumous Golden Globe Nomination for Netflix’s ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’

Chadwick Boseman on Tuesday earned a posthumous Golden Globes nomination for his role in Netflix‘s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, his final acting credit before his August 2020 death. The late actor, who died following a three-year-long battle with colon cancer, was nominated for best actor in a drama film, according to the Los Angeles Times. He is nominated in the category alongside Gary Oldman for Mank, Anthony Hopkins for The Father, Tahar Rahim for The Mauritanian, and Riz Ahmed for Sound of Metal.

Debuting on the streaming giant in December, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is the streamer’s adaptation of August Wilson’s play. Set in 1927 Chicago, the star-studded film follows Chicago musicians embroiled in conflict and tensions between the legendary performer and title character and her white manager as music rights become a major breaking point. Boseman starred as Levee, a gifted but troubled trumpet player. The film also stars Colman Domingo, Taylour Paige, and Viola Davis, who received a Golden Globes nomination for best actress in a drama.

Boseman’s posthumous nomination marked both a celebratory and emotional moment for fans, who continued to mourn his loss months after his death. As Tuesday’s nominations were revealed and Boseman’s name was read, many took to social media to react. Some of those responses are below.

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Boseman died on Aug. 28 at the age of 43. He had kept his years-long battle with colon cancer private and had continued to work on a number of films, including Black Panther and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.

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Along with taking on the role of T’Challa in Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame, Boseman is also known for his roles in Marshall, Da 5 Bloods, and 42.

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Ahead of the debut of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, the movie’s director, George C. Wolfe, revealed that the film was emotional for Boseman, who cried on set during one scene in particular. The scene involved his character battling Colman Domingo’s Cutler for being a man of faith, their back-and-forth ending with an emotional monologue that sees Levee looking up to the skies and challenging “Cutler’s God.”

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Speaking of the moment, Cutler said they were “doing it in a very casual way, and I assumed that when Levee got to the big speech that Chadwick was going to stop. But he didn’t stop. He kept going, and Levee took over—it was raw and explosive.” Cutler said afterwards, Boseman “just started to sob, and Colman hugged him, and then Chadwick’s girlfriend basically picked him up.”

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Domingo at the time also reflected on working with Boseman. He said, “I could tell with Chad sometimes, he had something on his mind. He’d walk into a room and he wouldn’t speak to anyone.” At one point, Domingo jokingly confronted the actor by saying, “Oh, you’re just not going to say hi to anybody?”

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Since his passing, Boseman has received numerous posthumous honors. In November, Disney honored Boseman by placing a tribute to the late actor ahead of Black Panther on Disney+. Instead of the opening credits, viewers were greeted with concept art from the film and clips of Boseman from both Black Panther to Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War. Boseman is also set to be honored in the upcoming film, Black Panther 2.

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Boseman has received Gotham and Spirit nominations. He is considered a frontrunner to receive a lead actor Academy Award nomination for his role in Ma Rainey. If this happens, it would make the late actor the fifth actor to receive a posthumous Best Actor Oscar nomination alongside James Dean, Peter Finch, Spencer Tracy and Massimo Troisi.