Josh Gad Reveals Poignant Final Texts From Chadwick Boseman
The news of Chadwick Boseman's death hit hard on Friday night, when his family revealed that the beloved Black Panther actor had passed away. An Instagram post shared on Boseman's account read, in part, "Chadwick was diagnosed with stage III colon cancer in 2016, and battled with it these last 4 years as it progressed to stage IV. A true fighter, Chadwick persevered through it all, and brought you many of the films you have come to love so much."
As the tragic news spread, friends and fans took to social media to mourn the loss of King T'Challa, and to share memories of the actor. One of those particularly touching posts came from Josh Gad, who starred in 2017's Marshall with Boseman (via IMDb). Gad shared on Twitter one of the final texts he received from Boseman, and also took to Instagram to pay tribute to his friend. A tearful Gad posted a video captioned simply, "Goodbye my friend," saying, "There aren't words to express what an amazing human being Chadwick Boseman was. You come upon people in your life who are, um, next level good. This was a man who was beyond talented and was so unbelievably giving, not only as a performer, but as a human being..." Gad went on to say that Boseman truly was T'Challa in real life.
Chadwick Boseman's texts to Josh Gad: 'Take a deep breath'
Prior to posting the moving video, Josh Gad took to Twitter to share a screenshot of some of the final texts he'd received from Boseman. "Breaking my twitter silence to share some beauty. This was one of my final texts from the brilliant & once-in-lifetime talent, @chadwickboseman – take this in & celebrate life. He knew how precious every moment was. Tonight the Heavens received one of its most powerful angels," Gad said.
The texts from Boseman are particularly poignant knowing now what the actor was going through as he battled cancer. In the message to Gad, Boseman reflected, "If you are in Los Angeles, you woke up this morning to the rare and peaceful sound of a steady precipitation. If you're like me, maybe you looked at the week's forecast and found that it's supposed to rain for three straight days — not without breaks of sunlight and reprieves of moist gloom. But yeah, it's gonna be coming down like cats and dogs..."
Boseman continued, urging Gad to make the most of the day, writing, "But now that the rain has stopped and today's storm has cleared, I urge you to go outside and take a deep breath. Notice how fresh the air is right now, after our skies have had a three-week break from the usual relentless barrage of fumes from bumper-to-bumper LA commuters. And now today's rain has given the City of Angels a long overdo and much-needed shower. Inhale and exhale this moment, and thank God for the unique beauties and wonders of this day. We should take advantage of every moment we can to enjoy the simplicity of God's creation — whether it be clear skies and sun or clouded over with gloom. And hey, if the air is in the clear right now, and it does rain tomorrow, I might even put jars and bins out and catch the rain, throw that in the water filter, and I have water more alkaline than any bottled brand out there."