Chadwick Boseman was 'in hardcore pain' on remaining days with colon cancer

Chadwick Boseman lived his life to the fullest and did his best at work even though he was secretly suffering inside, says his agent Michael Greene of Greene & Associates Talent Agency.

Greene told The Hollywood Reporter that the decision to keep the actor's battle with colon cancer private came partly from his mother, Carolyn. She and her husband, Leroy, raised their son with a mindset "not to have people fuss over him."

"He also felt in this business that people trip out about things, and he was a very, very private person," he said.

Greene shared that Boseman silently struggled with his pain during filming. He revealed that the "Black Panther" star "was really in hard-core pain" during the production of the Netflix movie "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom," where he starred opposite Viola Davis and Denzel Washington. But he "felt that being able to be with Washington and to launch this cycle of [playwright], August Wilson, at Netflix was so exciting to him."

Boseman was diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer in 2016 and it progressed to Stage 4 in 2018. No one knew about his disease, not the cast and crew of "Black Panther" and its director Ryan Coogler. Everyone in the movie industry did not know about his health struggle.

Howard University President Dr. Wayne A.I. Frederick noticed the actor's drastic weight loss when they met to discuss plans for the school's Fine Arts program. He said that Boseman looked "smaller than he had been" and he assumed it was for a role.

"In his usual style, he gave a long, detailed answer, explaining that he was a vegetarian and was exercising and trying to take care of himself and do what he had to do. It was a very thoughtful response, never letting on that anything else was happening," Frederick said when he asked the actor about the challenges of having to change his weight for his roles.

Boseman kept close friends and family privy to his cancer battle. Aside from Greene, his trainer Addison Henderson and producing partner Logan Coles also knew. Henderson told the publication that the "21 Bridges" star "was just living his artistic life to the fullest and using his time and his moment to really affect people." He said the actor had "so much wisdom, so much knowledge, so much inside of him that he wasn't going to let" his cancer "stop him from telling these amazing stories and showing his art in the prime of his life."