OUT OF POCKET
Boseman’s rare generosity to co-star Miller
Chadwick Boseman cut his own pay on the 2019 movie “21 Bridges” to boost that of his co-star Sienna Miller, the actress revealed in a new interview out Monday.
Miller told Empire Magazine that the late “Black Panther” actor made the gesture after the studio behind their NYPD police thriller declined to meet the number she asked for — and she was close to passing on the project.
“This was a pretty bigbudget film, and I know that everybody understands about the pay disparity in Hollywood, but I asked for a number that the studio wouldn’t get to,” Miller told Empire.
“And because I was hesitant to go back to work, and my daughter was starting school and it was an inconvenient time, I said, ‘I’ll do it if I’m compensated in the right way.’ And Chadwick ended up donating some of his salary to get me to the number that I had asked for.
He said that that was what I deserved to be paid,” she recalled.
“It was about the most astounding thing that I’ve experienced,” Miller, 38, said.
“That kind of thing just doesn’t happen. He said, ‘You’re getting paid what you deserve, and what you’re worth.’ It’s just unfathomable to imagine another man in that town behaving that graciously or respectfully,” she said.
Miler said she “didn’t know whether or not to tell this story,” but she decided to share it because “it’s a testament to who he was.”
“In the aftermath of this, I’ve told other male actor friends of mine that story and they all go very, very quiet and go home and probably have to sit and think about things for a while. But there was no showiness, it was, ‘Of course I’ll get you to that number, because that’s what you should be paid,’” she said.
Boseman, who was also a producer on “21 Bridges,” gained worldwide superstardom playing the lead role in Marvel’s “Black Panther” after critically acclaimed portrayals of Jackie Robinson and James Brown in biopics about the Black American icons.
He died Aug. 28 at age 43 following an intensely private four-year battle with colon cancer.
Boseman died at his home in Los Angeles with his family by his side, his publicist said.
He continued working through “countless surgeries and chemotherapy,” his family said in a statement.
“It was the honor of his career to bring King T’Challa to life in ‘Black Panther,’ ” they said.