Black Panther hit theatres this past February with quite the roar. It quickly became the highest grossing film of 2018, with critics praising everything from its depth of character to its poignant social commentaries. Plus, it's hard to ignore how important this film is culturally given that it's one of the first major blockbusters in which white actors are a minority, with great focus placed on the struggles minorities face on a daily basis. And at the helm of all this was Black Panther himself—Chadwick Boseman. But given that Black Panther has been one of the more major roles of his acting career, there's a about Chadwick that the general public doesn't know.

Here are 15 things you didn't know about Chadwick Boseman.

15 He's a writer and wrote his first play in high school

In fact, he's an award-winning writer, but more on that later. Chadwick is a talented playwright, and penned his first play during his tender high school years. Yeah, that's right—during the time most of us were sleeping the day away or spending 20 hours straight trying to beat that one stubborn level in Mario Brothers, Chadwick Boseman was writing plays. Initially, Chadwick didn't even want to be an actor! His dream was to be a writer and director, and apparently, he started working towards that from an early age, when the rest of us were still trying to figure out what our favourite breakfast food was, let alone what we wanted to be when we grew up. Chadwick titled his first work Crossroads, and it was performed at his school.

14 He Played Roles In CSI And ER

If there's one thing almost all Hollywood actors seem to have in common, it's having played a random character in a random episode of some cult TV show about crime or hospitals. Usually, they ended up portraying some deranged murderer on Law & Order, or a pedestrian who has exactly zero lines before getting killed by some other deranged murderer in Law & Order: SVU (with Law and Order, there will always be a deranged murderer). But Chadwick Boseman did it slightly differently, and rather than appearing in the typical Law and Order cameo that so many actors do when they're getting started in the business, he played roles in both CSI: NY and ER before he became the superpowered Wakandan we all know and love.

13 He wanted to be a writer, and initially studied acting just to learn how to relate to actors

Well, thank goodness he fell in love with the trade, or we might never have gotten to see him on the big screens shredding the bad guys as Black Panther. But initially, that wasn't what he wanted. Like we mentioned above, he wanted to be a writer and director, so when he first studied acting, it wasn't in hopes of becoming an actor himself. It was just to learn how to relate to the people he'd be working with most. And we can see why he'd do that, given that actors are notoriously quirky and are known to be a bit difficult to work with, at times. But apparently, Chadwick's introduction to acting left a lasting impression, and one thing led to another, which led to us getting to watch Boseman kick some serious @$$ in Wakanda.

12 He kept T'Challa's accent throughout the filming process for Captain America: Civil War

You've probably heard of method acting, from Heath Ledger locking himself away for a month in a hotel room to delve into the psyche of the Joker (developing everything from his stance to his voice to that spooky grin he's so famous for) to Jared Leto showing up to the set of Dallas Buyers Club already dressed in drag. Apparently, Chadwick Boseman employs a similar technique in his craft (but not quite to the same extremes as the aforementioned actors). During the course of filming for Captain America: Civil War, Boseman would continue to speak with T'Challa's accent whether they were filming or not to ensure he kept it consistent. Although that's not quite the same as locking yourself up in a hotel room, it still shows some serious commitment to the role.

11 He has stated that he would like to play Jimi Hendrix

Everyone has a dream role that they'd just love to play. For us regular joes, it's usually someone like Iron Man or Black Widow. Or, if we're feeling kind of spacey, maybe Groot or Rocket. (What can we say—it's the age of Marvel.) But for the actual actors of the world who don't just practice lines in the shower or in the car on the way to work, it's roles like Queen Elizabeth of England or Winston Churchill or Hamlet (let's admit it: British roles just feel classier). For Chadwick Boseman, who's already played James Brown, one of the greats of 20th century music, his dream role is apparently yet another musician. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in 2013, he stated, "I would love to play Jimi Hendrix."

10 One of his scripts was nominated for a 2006 Joseph Jefferson Award for New Work

We said we'd get back to this, didn't we? Well, not only is Chadwick Boseman a writer, but he's a darn good one, at that. One of the scripts he wrote back in the day, entitled "Deep Azure," was nominated for a 2006 Joseph Jefferson Award for New Work. Influenced by hip hop and referencing many aspects of culture, from Shakespeare to Marvel superheroes (yeah, that's right), it was about a shooting in which a policeman shot and killed a black college student; but it's a complex social commentary, because the police officer is also black. Many of the lines rhymed, with Chris Jones, an art critic at the Chicago Tribune, deeming the play a "verbal feast." It was performed in Chicago, Illinois at the Congo Square Theatre Company, and was met with critical acclaim.

9 He loves basketball and boxing

Chadwick Boseman grew up in Anderson, South Carolina, and he proved to be a talented basketball player throughout his childhood. Despite how busy he must be these days given the fact that he's the freaking King of Wakanda, he still finds time to play pick-up games. Boseman also enjoys watching the sport, and when he appeared on ESPN's First Take, he made it clear whose side he was on: "My loyalty is in college. UNC. No matter how good or how bad they are. No matter if they blow a lead or not. Tar Heels for life," the actor said. But basketball isn't the only sport Boseman enjoys. In his spare time, he also pursues boxing, and apparently, he would spar with Ryan Coogler, the director of Black Panther, before fight scenes during filming.

8 He has said that playing James Brown takes more energy than Black Panther

When you see the fight scenes actors have to film in superhero movies, other than thinking THIS IS FREAKING AWESOME AND I WISH I COULD DO BACKFLIPS TOO, it's pretty hard not to think about how incredibly exhausting it must be to film such an action-heavy scene. Firstly, the actors have to learn the entire choreography of the action scene (well, the choreography that's not taken on by stunt actors, at least), and then secondly, if anyone botches a move, they have to repeat everything all over again. So, suffice it to say, action movies look pretty darn tiring. But Chadwick Boseman has stated that playing James Brown was actually more of an energy drain than playing Black Panther. “You can be tired in the suit, but not singing a song," the actor said. Well, we suppose exhaustion is pretty easy to hide when you're wearing a body-encompassing suit.

7 His mother was a nurse and his father was the owner of an upholstery business

Some famous actors and actresses were kind of born into the trade. Maybe their mom was a famous actress or maybe their dad was a Hollywood bigwig (or maybe both of their parents were freaking Walk of Famers, in which case we kind of feel sorry for that poor kid and the magnifying glass they must have been living under throughout their entire childhood). But whatever it was, there are a lot of actors who had an in within Hollywood from the get-go, whether their parents got them roles in ads or in those infamous Disney shows of the early late 2000s. But not Chadwick Boseman. He grew up in South Carolina as the son of a nurse and the owner of an upholstery business. Everything he got within Hollywood, he got on his own.

6 Phylicia Rashad was one of his teachers and mentors at school

When Chadwick Boseman was an undergraduate student studying fine arts at Howard University in Washington, D.C., he had Phylicia Rashad as a teacher. For those of you who don't know, Phylicia Rashad is not only an famous American actress, but a talented singer and director, and she was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1985 and 1986 for her performance in The Cosby Show. She's an iconic figure within the African-American community, and she quickly became a mentor to Chadwick Boseman. After Chadwick and some of his fellow classmates got accepted to the Oxford Mid-Summer Program at the British American Drama Academy in London, Phylicia Rashad even helped the students raise money so that they would be able to attend the institution.

5 His big break was when he played Jackie Robinson in 42

Before he was cast as the one and only King of Wakanda (Wakanda Forever! ... Sorry, it's kind of hard to resist), Chadwick Boseman starred in a couple biopics, portraying both James Brown and Jackie Robinson in different films. But his big break was the latter role, when he was cast in the movie 42 which told the life story of the first African-American baseball player to play in Major League Baseball in America. Facing incredible racism as he became more and more famous, Jackie Robinson started playing for the big leagues in 1947 when he was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers. Chadwick Boseman played the leading role in the movie, starring alongside Harrison Ford and subsequently getting nominated for numerous awards lauding his "Breakthrough Performance."

4 He stayed in character as James Brown during filming in Get on Up

Like we said before, Chadwick Boseman seems to subscribe to some of the ideas of method acting, at least when it comes to the voices of the characters he plays. When he portrayed the African-American musician, dancer and record producer James Brown in the biopic Get on Up, he apparently stayed in character even when the cameras were off. “If we took a break and you sat beside me to eat, you’d be eating with James Brown. Till I went home at night, it was JB," Boseman has said of the role. Apparently, this was to ensure he retained James Brown's unique way of speaking, from the Southern accent to the gravelly quality of his voice. "We never saw Chad," Tate Taylor, the movie's director, said of Boseman's performance. "We called him ‘Mr Brown’. It just felt natural.”

3 He has stated that he prayed for the role of Black Panther

Chadwick Boseman was raised a Christian and, as a kid, was part of a church choir and youth group in South Carolina. His former pastor has stated that Boseman continues to keep his faith, which is backed up by some of Chadwick Boseman's statements regarding his role as Black Panther. The actor has stated that he prayed to be awarded the role, saying: "You pray for something and then it actually occurs, you almost can’t believe it. There was no way in the world I was not going to play Black Panther, I had asked for that, I wanted it, and it felt like other people wanted it for me." Well, we're sure as heck glad that you got the role, because there's no one else we can picture as T'Challa, now.

2 He is descended from West Africa

These days, DNA tests are all the rage. Whether it's your grandparent getting all excited about being part-Viking or your brother wondering where all those Irish genes came from, it's become a bit of a fad to send your spit off for testing, and we can totally see why. Knowing where you come from helps with formulating identity. And sometimes, it's just plain fun to see what surprises might pop up if you actually test all those stories your grandparents told you against science. Apparently, Chadwick Boseman's father did a DNA ancestry test, and the results indicated that he descended from West Africa. Specifically, his ancestors were the Yoruba of Nigeria, the Limbe and Mende people of Sierra Leone and the Jola people of Guinea-Bissau.

1 He has been the star of three major biopics

Chadwick Boseman is apparently a bit of a biopic veteran. He's been in not one, not two, but three biopics about the lives of prominent African-Americans throughout American history. As we've discussed, he portrayed Jackie Robinson in 42, bringing the first African-American baseball player to play in Major League Baseball to life on the big screens. He also played James Brown in Get on Up, depicting the African-American musician often referred to as the "Godfather of Soul". And finally, he was cast as Thurgood Marshall in the aptly named Marshall, playing the first African-American justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. So, although we sure as heck love him as T'Challa, it is a bit of a different genre than the prominent roles Boseman took on in the past. But hey, we ain't complaining.