Viola Davis Talks Working With Chadwick Boseman On Netflix’s Ma Rainey, Revealing Her Nickname For Him

Prior to Ma Rainey, Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman worked together to adapt another real story. Davis played Susie Brown, James Brown’s mother in Get On Up, where the actor memorably portrayed the King of Soul. Since filming the movie in 2013, Davis thought of her actor as her “baby,” even though she never necessarily called him this in person. She also told Arab News how privileged she felt to get to work alongside him. And because he gave his performances and his own life his all, she does not look at his recent death as “tragic.”