Chadwick Boseman's brothers open up about the actor's final days in new interview

By Megan Stone

Kevin and Derrick Boseman are honoring their late brother, Chadwick, by opening up about the "Black Panther" star's final days and the legacy he leaves behind.

In a recent interview with The New York Times, the two said that while fans knew their little brother by many names -- T'Challa and Jackie Robinson, to name a few -- they only know him as Chad, not Chadwick.

Kevin Boseman, an accomplished dancer who performed on Broadway's "The Lion King," explained that whatever Chadwick Boseman put his mind to, he made it happen.

"He always did his best," Kevin Boseman, 48, noted. "His best was incredible."

Derrick Boseman, 54, a pastor in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, added that his little brother was exceptionally gifted, telling the Times, "He’s probably the most gifted person I’ve ever met."

Besides being a gifted storyteller and actor, the Boseman brothers say at Chadwick's core was his faith.

Their mother was a nurse and their father reupholstered furniture -- but both Carolyn and Leroy Boseman made sure to give their sons a strong religious upbringing.

That is what, Boseman's brothers say, enabled Chadwick Boseman to always give back to his community but never broadcast it. They revealed he bought hundreds of "Black Panther" tickets for needy children from his hometown of Anderson, South Carolina.

That faith also helped Chadwick Boseman transition into his final chapter, with Pastor Boseman revealing what his little brother told him the day before he died: "Man, I’m in the fourth quarter, and I need you to get me out of the game."

Pastor Boseman told the New York Times he then changed his prayers from "God heal him, God save him" to "God, let your will be done," which allowed him to pass peacefully the following day.

Chadwick Boseman died after a silent four-year battle with colon cancer. He was 43.