There were a lot of beloved celebrities who passed away in 2020. For many fans of Chadwick Boseman, the loss of the acclaimed Black Panther actor was one of the year’s most difficult news stories to grasp.
Boseman died on August 28 after a long, unpublicized battle with colon cancer. Before his death, the 43-year-old Howard University graduate filmed his final on-screen role in a movie titled Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
Beginning today (December 18), Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is available for streaming on Netflix. The George C. Wolfe-directed motion picture is an adaptation of two-time Pulitzer Prize winner August Wilson’s 1982 play of the same.
Academy Award winner Viola Davis (Fences) stars as 1920s-era Blues singer Ma Rainey. The late Boseman appears as cornet player Levee. Two-time Academy Award winner Denzel Washington (Glory, Training Day) is credited as one of the producers for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
Colman Domingo, Glynn Turman, Michael Potts, Taylour Paige, Dusan Brown, Jeremy Shamos, and Jonny Coyne are also part of the Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom cast. Ruben Santiago-Hudson adapted the screenplay. Jazz legend Branford Marsalis provided the score.