#Chadwick Boseman Wins Best Actor at Golden Globes 2021 for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

The late Chadwick Boseman won a posthumous award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama at the Golden Globes tonight (February 28). He won for his portrayal of a trumpet player named Levee in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom over fellow nominees Gary Oldman (Mank), Anthony Hopkins (The Father), Tahar Rahim (The Mauritanian), and Riz Ahmed (Sound of Metal).

His widow Simone Ledward Boseman accepted on his behalf. “He would thank God. He would thank his parents. He would thank his ancestors for their guidance and their sacrifices,” she said. “He would say something beautiful, something inspiring, something that would amplify that little voice inside of all of us that tells us you can, that tells you to keep going, that calls you back to what you are meant to be doing at this moment in history.”

Boseman died at 43 last summer following a four-year battle with colon cancer, a diagnosis he hadn’t shared publicly. His performance as in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom was his final film role, following Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods and his megastar status as the Black Panther in the Marvel universe.

Follow along with the rest of Pitchfork’s coverage of this year’s Golden Globes.