Black Panther Chadwick Boseman’s death shocked the world and his castmates. Letitia Wright, specifically, thought the news was a horrible joke. Once she realized it was real, she went through a “downward spiral.”

Boseman died at 43 in August 2020 from colon cancer, a secret he kept from many people.

During her phone interview with Variety, Letitia Wright explained her reaction to the death of her Black Panther

on-screen brother, Boseman, after receiving cryptic messages from people giving their condolences.

After seeing Boseman’s name attached to the condolences, she did what many people did, searched the internet and read news stories announcing his death. Assuming it was a joke, she called and texted his number.

“Hey, Bro, it’s Tish. Please pick up,” the text read.

She called her other castmate, Get Out and Black Panther (W’Kabi) actor Daniel Kaluuya.

“I was like, ‘Yo; I think everybody’s tripping right now. I’m giving you like five seconds to tell me that this is not real,’” Wright recalled. “He was super silent. I was like, ‘OK, fine, if you’re not gonna tell me, I’m going to continue calling Chad until he picks up.’”

Kaluuya asked Wright what she was doing, and she told him she was trying to call Boseman. His following statement hit hard.

“Tish,” he said. “His family …”

Wright struggled with the fact that he was gone, said she had trouble sleeping, and hated that she couldn’t attend his private memorial in the U.S. because she was on lockdown in London.

“It haunted me for months that I couldn’t say goodbye to him or be around my Black Panther family to share in that moment,” she said. “I kind of had to do that by myself. Like, bless Daniel—he came to see me and stuff. But it wasn’t enough. I wanted to book a flight that day.”

Ryan Coogler, director of Black Panther and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, explained that it was hard to make the prequel without the leading man, but they did, making it a tribute to the late actor.