An Inside Look At Angela Bassett's Life And Career

A romance for the ages, a career that continues to surprise and advocacy beyond her acting, this is the life and career of Angela Bassett. Angela Bassett grew up in Florida and spent a lot of her youth at Disney World. Later on in her career as a performer, she even had the chance to narrate for Disney in the Imagineering story, The Happiest Place on Earth. Yet, in her own experience, her upbringing in Florida definitely wasn't always the happiest place on Earth. Bassett explained that she was, "...a little girl who came up through the projects in St. Petersburg, Florida, with no one to point her in the right direction but a mother who was a little on the dramatic side herself." One of the hardest parts of her childhood was dealing with the aftermath of her parents' divorce, which left Bassett living with her aunt and uncle. Bassett also explained that her aunt never tried to replace her mom and would often remind the young girl that her mother was still out there. However, Bassett eventually did reconnect with her mom. She recalled to People, "...I remember getting a call one day and was like, Hi Angela, this is your mommy. I'm coming to get you. And I remember hanging up going, I don't have a mommy. And next thing I know and she's at the door, and I'm picked up and swiftly off to St. Petersburg, Florida." While Bassett admitted it was difficult at first restarting a relationship, she ended up learning a lot from her mother. Angela Bassett initially wanted to study theater at Yale, but her aunt considered that major a waste of time and convinced the young woman to focus on a more stable career choice. She earned her undergraduate degree in 1980 with a major in African-American studies. Afterward, Bassett focused on her passions and received her master's degree from Yale's School of Drama in 1983. She recalled being surrounded by some of the most intelligent and talented classmates, which at times was intimidating. She told InStyle, "...I would literally stand in front of my mirror and give myself a good talking to. I'd say, how long do you want to be overwhelmed? Have your pity party, but then after that, wash your face, comb your hair, and go do what you need to do." Over 30 years later in 2018, the Ivy League school awarded Bassett with an honorary doctorate in fine arts. A few years after this recognition, Yale undergraduate students voted to give Bassett the Yale Undergraduate Lifetime Achievement Award. She became the first Black recipient of the honor, which had previously been awarded to famous Yale alumni like George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, and fellow actor Jodie Foster. Bassett walked away from Yale with more than just knowledge — it's where she met her future husband, Courtney B. Vance. Showing no signs of slowing down in entertainment, Angela Bassett turned 64 years old in 2022. Speaking with W Magazine, she said, "...in Hollywood, there was a time when people believed that once an actress turns 40, it's over. But no, those things that make us who we are — our sensuality, sexuality, compassion, and intelligence — that doesn't come to an end. It deepens and ripens, you know? It's all in the attitude." While a healthy attitude is certainly a key to her success, she is also dedicated to her She claims that her eating is extremely regimented and most of what she does to stay healthy. Although Bassett admitted she is not the biggest fan of exercise, she understands how important it is to keep moving. Bassett said bodyweight exercises, like squats and push-ups, are some of her favorites. According to Bassett, she believes the key is to find the right balance of diet, exercise, and regular check-ins with doctors, but to not be over-the-top about any one aspect. Black Panther was a smash hit with audiences, earning over $700 million in the U.S. alone and almost $650 million internationally after opening. As of 2022, the superhero film was the 14th highest-grossing movie worldwide ever. Talking to Vanity Fair about the tremendous reception of the film, Angela Bassett said, "...this has to open up success. I hope that this is a clarion call, that it's something that continues. It's an iconic film. It's such positive images." For the 2022 sequel, Black Panther Wakanda Forever, Bassett told E! News that the cast was excited to return to work on the film. Of course, no one could forget the late Chadwick Boseman, who would be missing as the titular character. Bassett said, "...we still have a little, you know, we feel some kind of way in our heart, of course." She followed up with more detail, "...so every day is just, you know, a testament and a love fest for our dear." While Bassett wouldn't give up any plot secrets about the sequel, she did talk about a dangerous stunt incident on set involving Letitia Wright, who plays Shuri. Fortunately, Wright recovered after the accident. She revealed, "...anything like that will shake you up, but she's just a little, slight, little, petite thing. But she is fine and ready to go." Heading into the fifth season of the Fox drama, 9-1-1, the continued success of the series meant the actress received impressive pay increases. Angela Bassett began receiving a reported $450,000 per episode. This impressive salary put Bassett in an elite group as one of the highest-paid stars on network TV, and perhaps the highest ever for a woman of color on the small screen. When asked about it by The Guardian, she said, "...one of the things I said early in my career is I want to work consistently and I want to be paid fairly. I think that's what all of us longed for, and if and when that happens, it's a good day. And I hope that it paves the way for equity for others. That's my desire." In addition to her many acting credits, Bassett also worked on the production side of entertainment, like on the documentary series 1,000 Years of Slavery. With her various projects, Bassett was worth an estimated $25 million as of 2022. Part of her income went towards a stunning home in Hollywood. She and her husband, Courtney B. Vance, purchased the home in the 90s for somewhere between $772,000 and $1.3 million. The couple listed this Fremont home in 2007 for a whopping $5,999,000. For as long as she's been in the public eye, Angela Bassett has shown off incredible looks, often on the red carpet. Part of her sense of fashion is the strong connection she has with stylist Jennifer Austin. Austin told Us Weekly, "...the thing I love most about dressing Angela is her total and complete trust in me and my vision. She has let me change her image and style, push her out of her comfort zone, and has never questioned me or my choices." She also said she opened up Bassett's taste in colors, saying that when she first started with the actor, her closet was filling up with nothing but black clothes. Some of Bassett's favorite clothing designers are brands like Victoria Beckham, Givenchy, and Jimmy Choo. Beyond fashion, Bassett also has an ageless appearance. Speaking with the Los Angeles Times, Bassett's mother taught her to take care of her skin. She even took her daughter to a dermatologist to stay proactive against acne and learn about skincare. In 2016, the actor collaborated with Dr. Barbara Sturm to launch a luxury skincare line specifically for people with dark skin color. According to Bassett, her secret is to keep her skin clean with occasional peels. She told Parade, "...I also don't wear makeup if I'm not working. And I see my estheticians when I can, if it's once a month or every two months, just to keep the pores clean." Angela Bassett made her debut in the American Horror Story anthology in 2013 as Marie Laveau in the third season, Coven. Her role as a voodoo queen meant that she needed to handle snakes. And while this must have been scary to many viewers, Bassett said it was easy at first. She recalled to People, "...I have never been around snakes before, and I thought they were pretty quiet creatures. That is, until you actually held one, and he's slithering up your body and into your ear, and you're like, that hiss is very loud and disconcerting." Bassett returned for the next season, Freak Show, this time as a character who had a third breast. Bassett revealed the prosthetic piece was made of silicone, and she admitted to Collider that she, "...was just glad it wasn't on my face. I'm claustrophobic. It's amazing. The initial appliance was extremely heavy." Even after she left the show and began working on one of Ryan Murphy's other products, 9-1-1, Bassett was still a huge fan of the horror series. The actor confessed she was envious that some of her co-stars were returning to American Horror Story without her. Speaking about her Season 3 character to The Hollywood Reporter, she said, "...I mean, come on, where's Marie Laveau? I'm even a little bit in my feelings that Marie didn't come back." "...You doing some kind of voodoo with them fish heads?" "...It's Sunday night." "...I'm making gumbo." In the 2018 superhero film Black Panther, Angela Bassett often shares screen time with the titular character played by Chadwick Boseman. While it was their first time working together, the two actually met years earlier in 2000. At the time, Bassett was visiting Howard University. The school was awarding her with an honorary doctorate degree, and she was giving the commencement speech that year. The university assigned young Boseman, who was a student at Howard, to escort Bassett around campus. Boseman held onto the story during the entirety of production. Bassett recounted on The Kelly Clarkson Show, "...And we sat next to each other every morning in the makeup chair, you know, as we're getting our lines and our accents and our work together for the day." It was only at the opening premiere party for Black Panther that Boseman told Bassett about their first meeting. After Boseman's heartbreaking death in 2020, Bassett called him, "...truly one of the most incredible individuals that I have ever had the opportunity to meet and work with." From a young age, Angela Bassett was passionate about acting. In high school, she was part of a class trip to Washington, D.C., which included watching a performance of the play of Mice and Men. Actor and the voice of Darth Vader, James Earl Jones, was in the production, and Bassett vividly remembers, "...I was the last person in the theater, and I was glued to my seat, and I was just weeping." She then went on to study theater at Yale University. Speaking within Style, she said, "...I mean, theater is my first love. I love the stage." Bassett recalled a time when playwright John Guare saw her perform in his play His Girl Friday and praised her, saying, "...Angela, you're a theater animal. You command the stage and the audience. It was the highest compliment." Part of what Bassett loves to act is portraying emotions and relationships that she sees in real life. The actor told Parade, "...I'm so interested in human dynamics, how people get along, why they do what they do, what makes them tick, what makes them glow, what makes them sad. Those are the things I find really interesting." To prepare for roles and accurately portray these emotions, Bassett will sometimes sit with men and women that her roles are based on. For example, she met with female law enforcement officers to help with her character Athena on 9-1-1. Even though Angela Bassett is a gifted actor that can portray a wide range of characters, the actor faced many setbacks during her career. For example, she went through five years of difficult auditions with few big roles to show for it. She told People, "...I thought that if I were to get the part, it would be one of those movies that would cement my face with my name. I was always that actor that was struggling going to auditions or doing guest spots on weekend television shows." Once she started getting more regular offers, Bassett chose to focus on parts she wanted, even if that meant missing out on paychecks. Speaking with Net-a-Porter, she said, "...I've had to protect myself from being led by the finances of it. I can't start with, well, how much are they paying? I can't be led by that." She has passed on some major roles, including the lead role in the film Monsters Ball. The part went to Halle Berry, who won the Best Actress award at the Oscars for her performance in the film. Even with Berry's success, Bassett accepted the outcome of that missed role. You cannot dance to every record. You must sit some out. While What's Love Got to Do With It depicted a dramatized version of singer Tina Turner, lead actor Angela Bassett revealed that Turner actually helped with hair and makeup during the production of the 1993 film. Bassett explained to InStyle that toward the end of the shoot, Turner arrived on set, and with no assistance needed, "...she did my makeup and hair in a quarter of the time than their stylists did, and it was just as fabulous." As enjoyable as the hair and makeup process sounded, Bassett explained that the role still stands out in her career as the most challenging. She told People, "...definitely nothing has been as difficult as Tina Turner, nothing as difficult physically, emotionally, spiritually, vocally, nothing, absolutely nothing." She went into more detail with InStyle, saying, "...I learned how strong, internally, I could be. I ached from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet. I lost my voice." Bassett earned impressive accolades for her performance, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. At the 1994 Golden Globes, Bassett won for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, and had tears of joy during her acceptance speech. Angela Bassett excels at playing confident and wise mothers on screen, like her role as Ramonda, the Queen Mother of Wakanda in Black Panther. The actor saw many of these characteristics in her own mother, Betty Jane Bassett. Speaking with Good Morning America, she said, "...she was very strong-willed, determined, you know, simple woman. She had high expectations for her two daughters." As a result, Bassett's mom instilled a sense of independence and a desire for education in her offspring. Betty Jane did this all as a single mother. This stress became more pronounced as Betty Jane grew older, struggling with the challenges she faced being an older single mom. Sadly, Betty Jane died from heart disease in 2014, which Angela later learned was connected with her mom's type 2 diabetes. Towards the end of her life, Angela remembered, "...I was really concerned, of course, for taking care of my mother's other needs that I could see and ascertain naturally or what she wanted or complained about." Five years after Betty Jane's death, Angela urged her Instagram followers to manage their health and to be aware of heart disease. Angela Bassett first met Courtney B. Vance while both were students at Yale, but it wasn't exactly love at first sight. At the time, he was in a relationship, but the two stayed friends until they romantically connected about 14 years later. While both living in Los Angeles, she told People, "...I was single, he was single, and I had such an appreciation for him over those years, of his consistency, how he treated other people, of what a supporter he is, what a connector of people and ideas he is, how passionate he is." Since both Bassett and Courtney had been in serious relationships in the past, the couple wanted to try things a little differently together. Speaking with NPR, this included abstaining from sex until marriage because, "...I wanted to really see him for who he was, and I wanted him to see who I was." The couple tied the knot in 1997 during an emotional ceremony, Vance remembered. They celebrated 23 years of marriage together in 2020, and Bassett credited the long-lasting connection with supporting each other while also allowing room for individual goals and dreams. In an interview with People, she revealed her secret to a successful partnership. "...I think the important thing is that you gotta marry the right person. Make sure you're both looking in the same direction, basically." In 2006, Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance welcomed their first children together, fraternal twins Bronwyn and Slater. The road to becoming parents wasn't easy, as Bassett and Vance tried unsuccessfully to have children for seven years. This included several tries at fertility through treatments like IVF, but with no success. On The Oprah Winfrey Show, she revealed, "...I was devastated when it didn't happen. I had to remain hopeful and resilient and, OK, let's do it again." Thanks to a friend who suggested surrogacy, Bassett and Vance explored that option with great success. Eventually, these cute babies turned into teens, along with all the excitement of young love. Bassett spoke with Us Weekly about the topic, "...my daughter asked if she could have a boyfriend, so she's starting to date, but it's still sweet. Sometimes I'll have the nerve to ask, have you kissed? And she says, no, and I'm like, oh, OK, well, that wasn't my journey." Meanwhile, she said Slater appears more interested in making music and rapping than dating. Bassett also explained that her kids don't always watch her films, including her iconic performance as Tina Turner. Angela Bassett wanted to help others learn from her experience after her mother's death from heart disease. Her mom also lived with type 2 diabetes, and the family learned that these two diseases could be closely linked. In a combined campaign with the American Heart Association and the American Diabetes Association, called No Diabetes by Heart, Bassett became a spokeswoman and used her influence to bring awareness to the specific health issue. She told News 1, "...I wish my family had recognized the link earlier, and that's why I want everyone living with type 2 diabetes to know about the connection to heart disease and stroke, and know that they can do something about it." During an event for the American Heart Association, Bassett talked about why she is so passionate about helping others. "...Losing my mother, the person who encouraged me to pursue my lifelong dream of becoming an actress, was a wake-up call to start talking about the risk of heart disease with my family members, who also have type 2 diabetes, like my Uncle Ralph." To further raise awareness for people with type 2 diabetes, Bassett became the spokeswoman for a campaign called For Your Sweetheart. In a video for the campaign, she sat next to her Uncle Ralph and urged people to talk with their health care providers, for themselves or loved ones, about the risk of heart disease for those with type 2 diabetes.