Believe it or not, the phenomenal actress known as Angela Bassett has never won an Oscar for her incredible body of work. In fact, the first and last time she was considered for an Academy Award dates back to 1994 when she was nominated in the Best Actress in a Leading Role category. The nod was for her role as Tina Turner in the biopic What’s Love Got to Do with It, released in 1993. Even odder, the Hollywood A-lister has not even won a BET Award, although she’s been nominated a record 10 times since 2001.
Despite those two institutions seriously fumbling the trophy, others have acknowledged Bassett for her contributions to the performing arts — including the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, who awarded her a star on the Walk of Fame in 2008, the SAG Awards, NAACP Image Awards, and Golden Globes.
As she celebrates 64 years around the sun, The MouthSoap would like to pinpoint some of our favorite roles the star has taken on in her nearly 50-year acting career.
Boyz N The Hood
Written and directed by John Singleton, Bassett played Reva Styles, the no-mess-taking mother of Tre Styles, played by Cuba Gooding Jr. The 1991 cult classic starred some unforgettable faces, such as Bassett’s acting buddy Laurence Fishburne, Morris Chestnut, Ice Cube, Regina King, and Nia Long.
The Jacksons: An American Dream
Rumor has it that Michael Jackson once said that if anyone should play his mother, Katherine, it should be Angela Bassett. That she did in the 1992 Emmy-winning television miniseries, The Jacksons: An American Dream, based on the lives of the infamous singing group.
Waiting To Exhale
The 1995 Forest Whitaker directed film based on the novel by Terry McMillan is one of the most iconic in Bassett’s filmography. Packed with a loaded cast that includes headliners, Whitney Houston, Lela Rochon, Loretta Devine, Gregory Hines, Wesley Snipes, Dennis Haysbert and more, Bassett made a standout performance as the seething spouse, Bernadine. Hollywood showed its behind when it left the drama out of its mainstream award ceremonies.
What’s Love Got To Do With It
Bassett’s portrayal of the triumphant singer Tina Turner remains one of the top biopics of all time. Based on the authorized autobiography, I, Tina, the 1993 pic broke down the secret abuse that Turner was experiencing throughout the early years of her blossoming career. Bassett reunited with her Boyz n the Hood co-star Laurence Fishburne in the Brian Gibson directed pic.
Malcolm X
Bassett has always had a thing for historic biopics. She’s starred as Rosa Parks in The Rosa Parks Story and Voletta Wallace in Notorious. She first made an appearance as activist Dr. Betty Shabazz in the 1992 Spike Lee Joint, Malcolm X, and later, appeared as the character again in the 1995 film, Panther. Bassett relented the role to Mary J. Blige for another iconic activist, Coretta Scott King, in the TV movie, Betty & Coretta.
Vampire In Brooklyn
We don’t care what anybody says, Vampire in Brooklyn is a freaking classic! Starring Bassett, Eddie Murphy, Allen Payne, Kadeem Hardison, John Witherspoon, and Zakes Mokae, there was no other feature film about Black vampires terrorizing an infamous borough of New York. On top of that, horror flick master Wes Craven directed the 1995 feature film. Bassett played detective Rita Veder — and it’s one of her fun roles that we enjoyed thoroughly.
Black Panther
Mrs. Bassett plays Ramonda in the 2018 Marvel film Black Panther. Directed by Ryan Coogler, Bassett helps lead the kingdom of Wakanda alongside her warrior son, T’Challa, played by the late Chadwick Boseman. Stoic and riddled with wisdom, Bassett is the perfect fit in this franchise. Luckily, we get to see her return to the role in the sequel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, out this fall.
The point is that Bassett is a wonderful actress with so many unforgettable performances that this list doesn’t do her justice. Honorable mentions include her current role on 9-1-1, Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story, and her skit on A Black Lady Sketch Show. With that said, we give our flowers to Bassett for her extraordinary contributions to the arts. And give her an Oscar and BET Award already!
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