Denzel Washington says the late Chadwick Boseman lived a full life as a fellow Hollywood actor before his untimely death at 43 years after a battle with cancer.

They got cheated, but he lived a full life," Washington told an informal conversation with veteran Hollywood director Barry Levinson at the Toronto Film Festival on Thursday.

Like they'd taken over," Washington recalled during the virtual talk moderated by Scott Feinberg, the awards columnist at The Hollywood Reporter and host of the 'Awards Chatter' podcast.

That respect that repaid by Boseman during the American Film Institute's Lifetime Achievement Award for Washington in 2019 when he recalled the Training Day and Glory Oscar winner paying for his tuition to take part in a British American Drama Academy summer program.

During the TIFF conversation, Washington was also full of praise for Levinson, whose movie director credits include Diner, Good Morning, Vietnam, Rain Man, Bugsy, Wag the Dog and The Humbling, which debuted at Toronto.

Washington had been listening intently as Levinson at one point explained directing movies was "a lot of preparation and then a lot of freedom.

At that point, Washington broke in on the virtual talk to reveal his hand.

What I want you to do is come by the set," he asked as Washington prepares to direct his fourth movie, a drama about love and loss, after Antwone Fisher, The Great Debaters and Fences.