Chadwick Boseman
Born in South Carolina, Boseman earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in directing at Howard University. Intending at first to write and direct theater, he later took up acting and spent the 2000s taking small roles in various TV shows. He rose to prominence for playing baseball legend Jackie Robinson in 42 (2013) and singer James Brown in Get On Up (2014). He was then cast as T’Challa, making his first appearance in Captain America: Civil War (2016).
Michael B. Jordan
Not to be confused with the famous basketball player of the same name, Jordan was born in Santa Ana, California in 1987, moving to Newark, New Jersey at a young age. He began his career as child actor, his most notable role being Wallace on the first season of HBO’s The Wire. As an adult, he gained recognition for a starring turn in NBC’s Friday Night Lights and then as a key collaborator of director Ryan Coogler in Fruitvale Station (2013) and Creed (2015).
Winston Duke
A Trinidadian-American actor, Duke attended the Yale School of Drama at the same time as Lupita Nyong’o. He appeared in several American TV series before making his film debut in Black Panther.
Danai Gurira
A Zimbabwean-American actress, Gurira is best known for her role as Michonne on the hit TV series The Walking Dead. However, Coogler has claimed that he has never seen the show and instead cast Gurira based on her work in the Nigerian film Mother of George (2013).
Lupita Nyong'o
Born in Mexico City to a Kenyan politician, Nyong’o studied acting at Yale School of Drama where she was noticed for outstanding ability in theater. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her turn in Twelve Years a Slave (2013) and recently appeared in two of the new Star Wars films as the motion capture character Maz Kanata.
Martin Freeman
An English actor, Freeman first rose to fame in the original British version of the TV series The Office. He recently came into global prominence by starring as Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit trilogy. Prior to appearing in Black Panther, he had appeared with Boseman in Captain America: Civil War (2016).
Daniel Kaluuya
Though British actor Kaluuya was relatively obscure to American audiences when first cast in Black Panther, his profile exploded with the release of the hit film Get Out (2017). For the film, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor. Before Get Out, Kaluuya had gained recognition for his theater work and roles in British TV series Skins and Black Mirror.
Letitia Wright
Black Panther is the first major role for the Guyanese-born British actress. She had previously made appearances in British TV series including Doctor Who and Black Mirror.
Angela Bassett
Bassett is a veteran actress who has appeared in dozens of films and TV shows to great acclaim since the 1980s. Her notable credits include (but are not limited to) Boyz in the Hood, Malcolm X (1992), What’s Love got to Do With It (1993) (for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress), The Rosa Parks Story (2002), Akeelah and the Bee (2006), and many more.
Forest Whitaker
A prolific and distinguished American actor, Whitaker’s work has run the gamut from blockbusters like Black Panther to arthouse pieces like Jim Jarmusch’s Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai (1999). Notably, he won the Academy Award for Best Actor for playing Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland (2006) and the Cannes Film Festival award for Best Actor for playing legendary jazz musician Charlie Parker in Bird (1988).
Andy Serkis
Though making one of his occasional live action appearances in Black Panther, the British actor is better known for his motion capture performance work in The Lord of the Rings and Planet of the Apes films, among others. Serkis previously played the role of Klaue in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015).
Sterling K. Brown
Brown appeared in numerous TV series in the 2000s before breaking out as prosecutor Chris Darden on FX’s The People Vs. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story. He won an Emmy for the performance, and another Emmy a year later for his leading role on NBC’s This is Us.
John Kani
A South African actor and writer, Kani has spent most of his career performing in film, television, and theater in his native country. He co-wrote several anti-Apartheid plays with renowned playwright Athol Fugard, in which he has also performed. Kani previously played the role of T’Chaka in Captain America: Civil War (2016).
