The iconic queen Angela Baddest Bassett walked into the Breakfast Club with great coronavirus worry-free energy!
The NAACP Image award winner expressed pride in being among a group of powerful, influential people within the black community. Especially given the constant snubbing of honors minorities face within the Academy Awards. In reference to if the NAACP award is just as significant as an Oscar, there's no doubt that its importance shines bright.
"It's my community. It's who has and continues to show me love and appreciation and always shows up for me. I recognize and am grateful for it and feel it. So it's extremely important."
She also shared her input on why movies today aren't as impactful anymore. Having a hefty repertoire in the industry with classics like Waiting To Exhale and How Stella Got Her Groove Back under her belt, Angela was well-knowedged in her opinion.
"Sometimes when you have successes it's about copying the success. Sometimes, as opposed to some fresh ideas...Both of them [Boys In The Hood and Black Panther] were young filmmakers, hungry and really putting it all in there. Not successes and formulas, but they were really fresh ideas and stories and putting all of them into it with John [Singleton] at 19 and Ryan [Coogler], I mean they're the real truth. They're about that art."
Of course, Mrs. Bassett is still productive and is as active as ever within her craft. An upcoming project we can look forward to is called Gunpowder Milkshake, led by Israeli director Navot Papushado. She explained how impressed he was by her years of work and insisted on collabing on his project. One stand out performance that gained great respect was her dedicated work in What's Love Got To Do With It. Embodying Tina Turner's entire essence in the 1993 film effected the actress outside of her role to the point where she had to consciously control simple mannerisms, like her laugh. However, it was the physical trials of telling the legendary singer's story that took it to another level. Luckily, working with Lawrence Fishburn, as Ike Turner, took some weight off.
"It was good to have a colleague, to have that with someone you trust. I'm speaking of Lawrence, to go through that. Because he's really got you, you know, emotionally actor-to-actor. Because the hours were long, it was extremely physical, you actually hurt for 30 straight days...But you had to go on. And some of it was understood like dynamics within a relationship or a man and a woman, or black love, or violence or whatever and you take it seriously. Like you said, it inhabits your spirit and yet we're making a movie. But we're not just making a movie, but as we make this movie you're living through it."
Explore more on what Angela's thoughts on the Harvey Weinstein case, not having to go on auditions anymore as a working actress and fear of police officers regardless of her role on 9-1-1.