Actress Letitia Wright is speaking out about the on-set accident that occurred while she was filming the sequel to Black Panther, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
According to Variety, Wright fractured her shoulder and suffered from a concussion after her motorcycle crashed. According to the outlet, the accident occurred in Boston in August 2021 while Wright was filming Wakanda Forever with a second unit crew. The first film crew was filming with director
Ryan Coogler in Atlanta on the film’s main set.Wright was riding the motorcycle while shooting an action sequence when the biscuit rig used for the camera “clipped a median and sheared the bike off, and it tumbled.” Wright was hospitalized for her fractured shoulder and a concussion. The actress told Variety that she was in therapy and still processing the accident.
“I’m still processing it,” said Wright. “I’m still working through it in therapy. It was really traumatic.”
Wright also recalled wanting to finish the film as a tribute to her late co-star,
Chadwick Boseman. The actor passed away at 43 in August 2020 from colon cancer. Wright described finding out Boseman had passed away and said she was in disbelief.“Is someone trying to play a joke on me?” she recalled.
“This is not a good joke. This is not OK. And I just did the first thing that anybody would do: I called Chad.”
When she didn’t get an answer, she texted him. “Hey Bro, it’s Tish. Please pick up.” After talking with co-star, Daniel Kaluuya, she tried to call Boseman again before Kaluuya’s words helped her to accept that Boseman was gone.
Coogler spoke about how close the film’s cast was, especially Wright and Boseman, who played siblings.
“It was a real thing happening there. Specifically, with Letitia and Chad, you know. Specifically with them.”
The director visited Wright in the hospital, and she said one of the first things she told Coogler was that she was determined to finish the film.
“I just remember wanting to finish my film, man,” said Wright. “I think that was one of the first things I said to Ryan. And he was like, ‘Tish, you need to recover.’”
The film closed production from November 2021 until January 2022, while Wright went home to London to recover from her injuries.
“I had great, great, great medical support, great patience on set. I’m just extremely proud of myself. I’m extremely proud of Ryan, of the team, for just the resilience—overcoming adversities every step of the way. When I finished filming, I cried like a little baby.”
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever premieres in theaters on Nov. 11.