If it were up to us, we’d celebrate and praise Angela Bassett every single day. It’s not just her exceptional talent that we’re fans of. It’s how she carries herself as a role model, inspiring Black women to rejoice in their confidence and badass nature.
From “Black Panther,” to “What’s Love Got to Do With It,” to “Waiting to Exhale,” to “9-1-1” she has the rare ability to make every role feel like it was tailor made for her. Fresh off winning an honorary Oscar for her extraordinary career, she spoke with People about the amazing moment she’s having and what she hopes her children will take away from all her accomplishments.
Though they’re not all award-winning, billion dollar blockbuster films, Bassett has over 100 roles on her resume. She credits her long, successful career to being about “the work, not the fame” and knowing what’s worth her time and energy.
“You have to know what to say no to as well as what to say yes to,” she said. “And during this time, a lot of things have been worthy of me saying yes to.”
Yes, she’s in the midst of a spectacular career run, but the Queen of Wakanda never forgets that her best, most important job is as mom to 18-year-old twins, Bronwyn and Slater. She wants them to see the deeper meaning behind all her accomplishments, and not just the trophies and awards.
“I hope that what will come out of that is that they see a mama, a woman, a Black woman achieving her dreams, having success,” she said. “They’ll see that hard work pays off. And they’ll be about that life for themselves.”
If you’re a fan of the “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” star, then you know that she’s quite humble about her influence, impact and honors. It’s one of the things we like most about her. She knows she’s fantastic, but she doesn’t need to walk around telling everyone all the time. Her husband, Courtney B. Vance, confirmed this, explaining that “She’ll never toot her own horn.”
“The honorary Oscar was a wonderful night, but I flashed back to 30 years ago when they didn’t call her name, and then when they didn’t call her name last March,” Vance said. “This was an opportunity for her to stand up there. A lot of people saw it, but not the billion people that would see it at the Oscars. But it meant everything to her.”
With Season 7 of her hit drama “9-1-1” premiering March 14 on ABC and the new Netflix fantasy film “Damsel” debuting March 8, Bassett is finding joy in this moment and not take the work for granted.
“The fact that it’s happening all at the same time, it can be a little overwhelming unless you just breathe through it and remember to be grateful,” she said. “For all of it. For what you prayed for, what you worked for, for what you dreamed of.”