Writing for The Root, the Burton Wire’s editor-in-chief interviewed ’42’ star Chadwick Boseman about his preparation for the role of a lifetime — baseball legend and civil rights activist Jackie Robinson. Boseman dedicated himself to mastering Robinson’s style of play through exhaustive physical and mental preparation. ’42’ outpaced expectations this past weekend, grossing over $27 million (US) dollars. Check out an excerpt from the piece below and find out why Bosewick’s preparation went over well with moviegoers.
(The Root) — Is it irony or fate that the same week the film 42 is opening, rumblings are surfacing that Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig is creating a task force to examine why African Americans make up only 7.7 percent of MLB’s players?
The biopic about how Jackie Robinson — the legendary player who broke the MLB color barrier in 1947 — ushered in a new era for the league and black baseball players (outside of the Negro Leagues) makes its way into movie theaters just as a discussion about a long-standing lack of representation of African Americans in the major league is reaching a feverish pitch. Also gaining momentum are discussions about newcomer Chadwick Boseman’s performance as the iconic sports figure, raising the question of whether another iconic figure — the Oscar — might be in Boseman’s future.
What is the likelihood of an up-and-coming black actor landing the lead role in a major film like ’42’ anyway, in an industry that is constantly criticized for the lack of complex roles for black actors and the stereotypical representations of black men in the roles that do exist? “I try not to think about it in those terms. It’s a lot of pressure,” says Boseman.
The Howard University graduate says that he prepared for the role as any other actor would. “When you’re in college, you do primary research and secondary research. My preparation was similar to that. I just tried to take in as much as I could about Robinson. Whether I could use it or not or in the moment, I had to figure out where he was mentally and physically. You just prep yourself as much as possible for whatever may come.”
Part of Boseman’s preparation included baseball practice five days a week, using the equipment that Robinson used when he played the game. “The game hasn’t changed, but the tools have. The bats were heavier back then, and you could see why gloves are designed the way that they are today because you couldn’t really depend on catching anything with those old gloves.”
Boseman practiced with major-league players, attempting to master Robinson’s unorthodox swing. Perhaps the most grueling aspect of preparing for the role was using cleats from the era, which Boseman describes as “basically running on nails take after take.” He adds, “We went through four or five different pairs of cleats, and my feet took a few months to heal. I would get up in the morning, like, three or four months after we were done and still feel like I had on cleats.”
Boseman’s physical approach to preparing for the film was connected to the mental preparation for the role…
Read the article in its entirety at The Root.
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