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Sept. 26 (UPI) -- Letitia Wright says she drew inspiration from her late Black Panther co-star Chadwick Boseman following her injury on the sequel's set. The 28-year-old actress explained on Monday's episode of The Tamron Hall Show how remembering Boseman, who died in 2020, encouraged her to keep going after fracturing her shoulder and suffering a concussion while filming Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
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Wright and Boseman played siblings Shuri and T'Challa, aka Black Panther, in the original Black Panther, released in 2018. Wright will reprise Shuri in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and is expected to become the new Black Panther.
On The Tamron Hall Show, Wright said she feels a duty to inspire others with her roles, as she was once inspired by actresses such as Keke Palmer.
"As you guys know, Black Panther is a blessing to my life. Shuri is a blessing, not only to me, but to the world and to so many Black young girls," Wright said.
"I just had to sit with myself and decide, 'How are you going to bounce back from this? How are you going to get back onto the set to fulfill the purpose that God blessed you with?'" she added.
Wright found strength in Boseman, who died at age 43 in August 2020 after a private battle with colon cancer.
"I could hear my brother just tell me that I could do it," Wright said of Boseman. "I didn't feel like I could do it, I didn't feel like I could go back. In those moments, I admired his journey even more, because he dealt with something that we didn't know about until he passed away."
"Going through that situation, it was another opportunity for leadership and strength to come out. For him to be such a leader at a time when he was facing so much? I just felt like once I got the healing I needed and I went back, I finished stronger," she added.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever opens in theaters Nov. 11. The film is directed by Ryan Coogler and also stars Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, Martin Freeman and Angela Bassett.
