Viola Davis Admits She Judged Chadwick Boseman on Film Set, Didn't Know He Had Cancer

Viola Davis says she judged some of Chadwick Boseman's choices on the set of "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" ... unaware he needed extra pampering because he was so sick.

The EGOT winner sat down for an interview with The Times -- published Friday ... and, she discussed the 2020 flick based on August Wilson's seminal play of the same name, which also happens to be the last part Boseman ever filmed.

Davis says -- like many people around the world -- the cast didn't know Chadwick was sick ... so, when she saw Boseman's girlfriend and make-up artist rubbing his back and playing meditative music, she was a bit critical.

Viola tells The Times, "There was a part of me that was a little judgmental — why do you need all that? Little did I know that they were doing it because he was dying.”

Filming for the flick took place in summer 2019 ... about a year after filming wrapped -- on August 28, 2020 -- Boseman died of colon cancer. He was just 43 years old.

After his death, his family revealed he was diagnosed with stage III colon cancer in 2016, and he battled it for years as it became stage IV before he finally passed away ... so, he was in the throes of his cancer battle while shooting 'Ma Rainey's.'

Months after he died, Viola called him a beautiful man and artist who "had a quality that very few have today, whether young or old, which is a total commitment to the art form of acting. Regardless of ego, regardless of any of it. He was with the same agent he had when he started his career."