Jonny Coyne recalls working with Chadwick Boseman on his final film: “Nobody knew how ill Chadwick was”
In an exclusive interview with Far Out, Jonny Coyne looked back on his collaboration with Chadwick Boseman on his final movie, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
Ahead of starring in the first Star Wars film in seven years, Coyne discussed as much as he could about the upcoming honour, while also reflecting on his experience as a coveted character actor.
After making his feature-length debut in Mike Leigh’s Palme d’Or-winning 1994 dramedy, Secrets & Lies, Coyne made appearances in NBC’s The Blacklist, Fox’s Alcatraz, and 2023 movies The Family Plan and The Toxic Avenger.
Coyne also appeared in the 2020 Netflix movie Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, alongside the late Boseman. While on set, he shared one of the Blank Panther stars’ last-ever scenes.
Coyne poignantly reflected, “Nobody knew how ill Chadwick was, and I had the dubious honour of doing one of the last few performance scenes with him ever because he wanted to work in such a way, the film, from his point of view, was filmed chronologically, unlike most movies, and so my big scene with him was the second to last scene that he did.”
He added, “I was one of the last few actors that he worked with, which was very touching, really, when I heard about it.”
Boseman passed away at the age of 43 on August 28th, 2020, from complications relating to colon cancer, which he was diagnosed with in 2016.
Elsewhere in the interview, Coyne gushed about his official involvement in the Star Wars franchise: “It was a childhood dream to do something like this. I was interviewed by John Favreau, thinking, ‘Oh, this is going to be the final yay or nay as to whether I’ve got the job,’ but there was never any doubt, apparently.’”
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