'Black Panther' Director Ryan Coogler Talks About His Final Conversation with Chadwick Boseman Before His Death

Ryan Coogler is opening up about the final time he spoke to Chadwick Boseman before his death two years ago.

The 36-year-old filmmaker directed Chadwick in the movie Black Panther and he returned to direct the sequel Wakanda Forever, which hits theaters on November 11.

Ryan talked to Chadwick just two weeks before he died and it ended up being their final conversation.

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“My last conversation with him was calling to ask if he wanted to read [the script] before I got notes from the studio. That was the last time we spoke. He passed maybe a couple weeks after I finished,” Ryan said on the new podcast Wakanda Forever: The Official Black Panther Podcast.

Ryan added, “He was tired, bro. I could tell he was tired.”

Ryan revealed that he was having trouble contacting Chadwick in those final weeks.

“I’d been trying to get a hold of him for a few days, and Denzel [Washington] had been trying to get a hold of him, too,” Ryan said.

Ryan decided to text Chadwick, who called him up on the phone soon after.

“I could tell he was laying down when we were talking. And [his wife] Simone was with him, and he kicked Simone out because he told her he didn’t want her to hear nothing that could get him in trouble with his [NDA],” Ryan said with a laugh. “She didn’t want to leave him, so I could tell something was up.”

Chadwick told Ryan that he didn’t want to read the Wakanda Forever script because he “didn’t want to get in the way” of the studio’s notes.

“But I found out later that he was too tired to read anything,” Ryan said.

Ryan has opened up about why he almost left Hollywood after Chadwick‘s death.