<p>Phylicia Rashad has paid honour to the late Chadwick Boseman, revealing she knew he was destined for greatness when he was one of her drama students at Howard University.</p><p>The Black Panther star lost his battle with colon cancer, aged 43, last week.</p><p>Rashad, who played Clair Huxtable on The Cosby Show, is now celebrating the life of the luminary, who signed up for her acting class when he was studying to become a director.</p><p>She told Rolling Stone she always expected her former pupil to become a big star.</p><p>"He was thoughtful... always studying," Rashad remembered, "In preparation and performance, he was specific, detailed, and thorough, and that required thought."</p><p>Noting that Boseman's class year was unusual, she remarked: "There was something very, very special about that particular class, and it was their levels of fearlessness." </p><p>When Boseman stepped up to star in Black Panther, Rashad looked on with glee.</p><p>"I saw little children of all ethnicities running around wanting to be T’Challa, just like when I was a little girl, people were running around with towels tied around their neck, trying to pretend to be Superman," she reminisced, commenting that children’s minds are 'open and free' from 'racial limitations'.</p><p>Crediting Boseman's many accomplishments and his humble nature, Rashad exalted: "He didn’t care about fluff and excess and fame.... But he did care about the impressions that work leaves in the minds of people who see it. He was very passionate about that. He wanted his work to be of service to humanity."</p><p>Rashad said she still marvels at Boseman's work, watching his movies every time they appear on TV.</p><p>"He is one of the greatest actors ever," she concluded: "He was just beginning to do the things that he had intended to do."</p><p></p>