Chadwick Boseman special: Netflix unveils trailer for Portrait of an Artist

Netflix has announced an upcoming special celebrating the life of the late actor Chadwick Boseman called Portrait of an Artist.

Premiering on 17 April, Portrait of an Artist features interviews with Viola Davis, Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, and Danai Gurira and will be available to watch for a 30-day window on the streaming platform.

“You know you have to step up when you're in his presence," Davis, who starred opposite Boseman in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, says in the newly released trailer. “He's looking at your work and he's really hyper-focused, on the craft, on the process. That's Chad.”

The special also features voiceover from Boseman, who died on 28 April from complications from colon cancer. “I'm Chadwick Boseman. I'm an artist,” he says in the trailer. “People call me an actor. I wouldn't necessarily call myself an actor. I would call myself an artist.”

Others participating in the special include Brian Helgeland, Reginald Hudlin, Aakomon “AJ” Jones, Woodie King Jr, Branford Marsalis, Andile Nebulane, Taylour Paige, Phylicia Rashad, Tate Taylor, Glynn Turman, and George C Wolfe.

Boseman posthumously claimed the best actor award at the 27th Screen Actors Guild earlier in April for his role in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. He is also nominated for the best actor Oscar for the same role. In February, he won the Golden Globe for best actor in a drama. Boseman’s widow, Taylor Simone Ledward, accepted the award on his behalf.