’42’ star Chadwick Boseman praises Jackie Robinson
theGRIO VIDEO - During an interview with theGrio, '42' star Chadwick Boseman talks about bringing to life the story of Jackie Robinson and capturing the hardships he endured...
Chadwick Boseman brings to life the inspiring true story of baseball legend Jackie Robinson in 42.
Boseman stars alongside Christopher Melonie, Nicole Beharie and Academy Award nominee Harrison Ford, in the film directed by Brian Helgeland.
42 tells the story of Robinson (Boseman), the first African-American to play in Major League Baseball.
Slideshow: 10 things you may not know about Jackie Robinson
In 1947 the Brooklyn Dodgers, under the guidance of team executive Branch Rickey (Ford), started Robinson at second base and ended racial segregation in baseball.
Boseman praised Robinson’s courage during an interview with theGrio’s Chris Witherspoon, saying, “I think what he did was other worldly. In the scripture it says one of the fruits of the spirit is self-control, I think in order to get to that place he had to go to a deeper place within himself…. I don’t even know if he knew he could do it.”
theGRIO VIDEO: Harrison Ford defends use of n-word in ’42′: ‘It’s historically accurate’
Audiences will see the hardships Robinson endured during his endeavor to integrate an all-white sport, including being called racial slurs like the n-word countless times. Boseman says filming scenes where he was called the n-word was difficult but he hopes moviegoers will be affected by the moment.
“It definitely was a difficult thing to go though, even as an actor at some points,” Boseman confessed. “I think that there’s a gap that you have to bridge… We had to create the context of the time, because the word is about context. So we just tried to create the right context and the right intention so that we both could be affected by the moment, and hopefully you would be affected by it.”
Follow Chris Witherspoon on Twitter at @WitherspoonC
