AceShowbiz - Like many of us, Viola Davis was clueless about Chadwick Boseman's cancer battle when they were filming the 2020 movie "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom." In a recent interview, she candidly reflected on her time working with the late actor, lamenting her initial misconceptions about the extra care he was receiving on set.

During their time on set, Davis was left perplexed and "judgmental" when she noticed that Boseman's fiancee, Taylor Simone Ledward, and his make-up artist would frequently rub his back and play meditative music.

"There was a part of me that was a little judgmental - why do you need all that?" she admitted in an interview with The Times. "Little did I know that they were doing it because he was dying."

Viola Davis wasn't alone in judging Chadwick Boseman. Actor Clarke Peters who worked with Boseman on Spike Lee's war movie "Da 5 Bloods" also had similar thoughts about the late star. "I have to say with a little bit of regret that I probably wasn't the most altruistic in that environment, but hindsight teaches us a lot of things," he said following Boseman's passing.

"What I'm addressing is, basically, my wife asked what Chadwick was like. I was really excited to work with him. I said, 'I think he's a little bit precious.' And she said, 'Why?' And I said, 'Because he's surrounded by people who are fawning over him.' "

"He has a Chinese practitioner, who is massaging his back when he walks off set. He has a makeup lady massaging his feet. His girlfriend is there holding his hand," he remembered. "And I'm thinking maybe the Black Panther thing went to his head."

Peters got emotional as he added, "I regret even having those thoughts because they were really looking after him."

Boseman, who kept his diagnosis a secret, was quietly fighting stage IV colon cancer, a battle he had faced since 2016.

Boseman's incredible performance as Levee Green in "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" earned him a posthumous Oscar nomination, affirming his commitment to his craft despite his illness.

Davis was deeply moved by secrecy of Boseman's battle and his unwavering professionalism as she emphasized that it's "not the quantity, it's the quality" of one's life that truly matters.

In a 2020 interview with Yahoo Entertainment, she said, "Lord knows we all would've wanted him to live another 50 years. We all want longevity. But I can't see his life tragically at all. … Because I felt like he was always living in the moment, squeezing out every bit of life."

Davis noted, "I would say his professional life absolutely paralleled his personal life, that's my guess, in terms of how he lived with the utmost integrity."

Director George C. Wolfe, who worked closely with Boseman on "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom," also shared his admiration.

He described the experience as empowering despite the underlying sadness, "I feel blessed by the performance, blessed by getting to know him and exhilarated by the work, by this astonishing performance."

In an era where fame often overshadows the essence of one's work, Boseman remained focused on his art. "I just felt that he was not interested in being a movie star as much as he was concerned with being a really great artist," Davis remarked during an appearance on Oprah Winfrey's OWN Spotlight.

Through the reflections of his colleagues and the public, Chadwick Boseman is remembered not just as a phenomenal actor, but as a beacon of strength and authenticity in both his professional and personal life.