Ryan Coogler considered quitting Hollywood after Chadwick Boseman’s death

By Lisa Respers France, CNN

The death of Chadwick Boseman in 2020 following a private battle with colon cancer was a shock to many. For those closest to him, it was devastating.

His friend and “Black Panther” director Ryan Coogler is now sharing how he almost walked away from Hollywood after Boseman’s death.

Coogler told EW he wasn’t sure he wanted to go on directing after losing Boseman, who had so closely collaborated with him on the hit Marvel film.

“I was at a point when I was like, ‘I’m walking away from this business,'” he said. ‘I didn’t know if I could make another movie period, [let alone] another Black Panther movie, because it hurt a lot. I was like, ‘Man, how could I open myself up to feeling like this again?'”

As he recalled his memories with the actor and rewatched old interviews they had done together, Coogler said he decided to go on.

“I was poring over a lot of our conversations that we had, towards what I realized was the end of his life,” Coogler said. “I decided that it made more sense to keep going.”

Coogler went on to directs the sequel “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” which is out November 11.

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