Chadwick recounted the tale while honoring Denzel with the American Film Institute’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019.

“As fate would have it, I was one of the students that he paid for,” Boseman said. “Imagine receiving the letter that your tuition for that summer was paid for and that your benefactor was none other than the dopest actor on the planet.”

He went on to add, “An offering from a sage and a king is more than silver and gold. It is a seed of hope, a bud of faith. There is no Black Panther without Denzel Washington. And not just because of me, but my whole cast — that generation — stands on your shoulders.”