Michael B. Jordan admits "there's no award that can validate" the late Chadwick Boseman's legacy.
Michael B. Jordan
The 'Black Panther' star has addressed the uproar over his co-star - who tragically died in August 2020 after a secret battle with colon cancer - not being posthumously honoured with the Best Actor prize at the Oscars last weekend for 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom'.
And while he admitted "everybody had a little bit of that feeling" when it was announced that 'The Father' star Sir Anthony Hopkins was the winner, he insisted that no accolade can match up to his "incredible body of work" and the impact Chadwick had on people's lives.
Appearing on SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle Show, Michael said: “I think a part of everybody had a little bit of that feeling watching it. But you know, this is how I honestly and really truly feel about it, there’s no award that can validate his legacy.
“There’s no win that can take anything away from the lives around the world that he impacted, his family, myself included, so you gotta look at the things that we can control and the gifts and the blessings that he left us. “And that’s this incredible body of work and what he represents for as a person.”
The 34-year-old actor also revealed he held off watching 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom' for a while because he wanted to "savour that moment".
He explained: “In hindsight that would be his last performance that people had an opportunity to actually see, to be able to watch.
“So you want to kind of savour that moment. Like one of your favourite shows, you don’t want to watch the last episode, you just want to kinda just like, leave it there and in my own time I watched it.
“It was an incredible performance man. You can see it, him giving everything he had, obviously he knew something that nobody else did. But, truly powerful, truly incredible, legendary, yeah.”
Chadwick's sibling Derrick spoke on behalf of the family and insisted they were not "upset or agitated" over the Oscars result.
He said: “I’m sure [Anthony] would [wish him the best] if Chad won.
“The family isn’t upset or agitated ... every nominated actor was excellent and deserving of the award.”
He added: "The family wishes Hopkins and his family all the best."
And that an "Oscar would have been an achievement, but was never an obsession."