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Chadwick Boseman Reveals He Was Fired From A Popular TV Show Because He Refused To Play A ‘Thug’

His "Black Panther" co-star Michael B. Jordan eventually landed the part.

Prior to becoming two of the most epic opponents in recent superhero movie history, Chadwick Boseman and Michael B. Jordan shared the same path on a well-known soap opera.

In fact, one's controversial fate led to the other's ultimate opportunity.

According to The Wrap, both A-list stars played the role of Reggie Montgomery on the iconic soap opera All My Children, but on separate occasions.

Boseman, who was first cast in the role in 2003, only filled the character's shoes for a week before the show's creators fired him for speaking up about the character's controversial and problematic "thug persona."

"It's one of those things where you get a role, and you don't really know," he said. "When I got it, I was like, 'This is not part of my manifesto. This is not a part of what I want to do. How can I make it work?' Because, with a soap opera, you don't know the full scope of what's gonna happen... Because of that, there's possibly room for me to adjust this and change it and make it so it's stereotypical on the page, but not on the screen."

He added that, after having these conflicting thoughts on the role that was sure to gain him major notoriety, he contemplated voicing his concerns to the show's producers.

"I remember going home and thinking, 'Do I say something to them about this? Do I just do it?' And I couldn't do it," he continued. "I had to voice my opinions and put my stamp on it."

While his effort to change the narrative proved to be commendable, the producers weren't here for his suggestion, and ultimately decided to let him go.

"They said, 'You are too much trouble,' but they took my suggestions, or some of them," he said. "And for me, honestly, that's what this is about."

Following Boseman's firing, Jordan, who was fresh off the hit HBO series The Wire, was chosen to take his place.

"I was playing this role not knowing that a lot of the things I was going through were because of what he'd already done for me," Jordan said of Boseman's bravery. "It's hard to speak in the moment about how things we do can affect other people. But this is a pure example, right here on the spot — we ain't never talked about this before a day in our lives — to understand how what people do now can directly affect what other people do in the future."

More than 10 year later, Boseman and Jordan met face-to-face on the set of the almost instantaneous blockbuster smash, Marvel's Black Panther.

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