It wasn’t by accident that the great Angela Bassett achieved unequaled success. As early as high school, when her mother refused to accept a C since she wasn’t raising “ordinary kids,” she was spurred towards greatness. Bassett developed a sense of pride as a result, and she went on to receive an MFA from the Yale School of Drama and a BA in African American studies from Yale University.
Since then, Bassett’s career has been anything from average; her memorable television roles on American Horror Story and 9-1-1, as well as biopics like The Jacksons: An American Dream, have left a lasting impression on audiences. She has been nominated for numerous accolades and has won countless more for her spectacular performances. She hasn’t won an Oscar yet, which is bordering on Leonardo DiCaprio levels of unacceptable, but that may change at this year’s ceremony because, according to Gold Derby, she is anticipated to be nominated for her brilliant performance in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, making her the first MCU actor to ever be nominated at the Academy Awards. Her attempt to become the oldest Black woman to win Best Supporting Actress is aided by her Golden Globe victory for the same role.
Here are Angela Bassett’s top films, listed, as a tribute to her brilliant cinematic career, which has been entertaining audiences since the early 1990s.
Akeelah and the Bee (2006)
Bassett portrays the worn-out Tanya Anderson in Akeelah and the Bee with a furious performance, once again demonstrating her unmatched ability to express an arc. With an unbending rigidity that Bassett manages to make sympathetic, Tanya bans her daughter Akeelah (a young, vivacious Keke Palmer) from participating in the spelling bee. It’s obvious that Tanya is not a villain through her straining jaw and worn-out sighs; rather, she is just a worn-out mother going about her duties. With the way she works her jaw, Bassett keeps us on the edge of our seats and deserves an Oscar.
When she finally understands how significant this is to her daughter, she says, “You must want this very badly, because you never lied to me before,” and with Bassett’s recognizable grace and poise, her strong, tight walls come tumbling down. It’s a tender and empathetic ode to all the mothers who are doing the best they can with the information they have, from resting her fingers against her exhausted forehead to jumping up and down when Akeelah wins the bee (spoiler alert!).
Black Panther (2018) & Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)
Bassett’s performance in the follow-up, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, nevertheless managed to surpass everyone’s extremely high expectations, even though it was obvious in the first Black Panther that she would once again steal the show from a movie filled with unparalleled talent. Bassett is excellently cast as the queen mother, the most powerful lady in a country of powerful women. Bassett once again masterfully portrays the complete range of human emotion with only one brow furrow, head tilt, or jaw movement. She doesn’t speak much, but you can infer what she’s thinking if she wants you to.
Ramonda made a comeback in the sequel Wakanda Forever last year, which was much more depressing due to the impending death of the extraordinarily gifted Chadwick Boseman in 2020. I am Queen of the most powerful kingdom in the world, and my entire family is dead,” she laments in the teaser. Have I not done my best? Ramonda’s story obviously had a sad beginning, but that doesn’t make her any less strong or badass. The queen has weathered several storms, but Bassett deftly communicates that she is still as strong and commanding as when she first appeared on screen in 2018. Even just Bassett’s initial appearance has received praise as Oscar-worthy.
Boyz N the Hood (1991)
In Boyz N the Hood, Bassett played Reva Devereaux, Tre Styles’ (Cuba Gooding Jr. )harsh but loving mother. This was her first important film role. Playing opposite Laurence Fishburne’s Furious Styles earned her a nomination for the Awards Circuit Community Awards for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. This role served as a warm-up for the several films the two of them would collaborate on in the future. Don’t believe you’re exceptional. Bassett brings to life a woman who doesn’t suffer fools once more, telling Furious not to take his success in raising his own child for granted. You may be cute, but you’re not unique. Even though it’s not her most important part, she nevertheless gives it her all and gives the movie the kind of sincere empathy that only Bassett could deliver.
Chi-Raq (2015)
Chi-Raq, a contemporary rendition of the ancient Greek play Lysistrata, is set in the South Side of Chicago and stars Bassett as the sexy Miss Helen Worthy. She imparts to Lysistrata a cryptic, no-nonsense grace that is the result of years of witnessing the suffering of her society, inspiring her to “swear off the one-eyed monster.” In a room full of powerful women in their forties, Bassett persuades them to join the celibacy strike. She convinces the last worried woman with a chant, the perfect blend of playful tease and a sympathetic ear for her community’s concerns (and it doesn’t hurt that she joins in on the group’s rhythmic, seductive dancing while doing it either). She moves the spirited ardor directly to the audience’s heart.
Bassett’s moving, unvarnished, and authentic portrayal of a mother weary of seeing her community’s children suffer shines out in a film with amazing talent (Teyonah Parris, Wesley Snipes, Nick Cannon, Samuel L. Jackson, and the list goes on).
Gunpowder Milkshake (2021)
In the lighthearted action thriller Gunpowder Milkshake, Bassett portrays the unflappable, law-abiding Anna May. She is the no-nonsense boss of a trio of hitwomen who once collaborated with the main character Sam (Karen Gillan). With Bassett in charge, the group—which includes Michelle Yeoh from Everything Everywhere All At Once, Carla Gugino from Watchmen, Lena Headey from Game of Thrones, and Karen Gillan from Doctor Who—creates a lovely cadence of wordplay. She’s still arranging people while grinning just a little bit. When Yeoh and Gugino finally convince her to believe Sam, she has one of the best lines in the film: Bassett sighs loudly and resentfully says, “Fine! You are granted life.
How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998)
Bassett provides a captivating performance as the stunning Stella in How Stella Got Her Groove Back, notwithstanding how absurd it is that her character can’t believe that a young, beautiful Winston (a young, sexy Taye Diggs) is drawn to her at the ripe old age of 40. She has mastered the art of juggling the roles of starry-eyed romantic and “I’m too old for this stuff” executive, and with Stella’s sensual inner monologue when she meets Winston, she essentially invented ASMR.
She portrays a wide range of emotions throughout the movie with only a sip of wine and a shift in her shoulders. She and Diggs have lovely interactions, and Whoopi Goldberg is delightful as the jovial Delilah. Since both actresses have shown they can connect with everybody and everyone, they are ideal choices to play the closest of friends. Anyone who has ever loved and nearly lost anything will get shivers from her grounded portrayal when she pleads Winston to stay with her and her voice breaks.
Malcolm X (1991)
Denzel Washington and Angela Bassett feature in the three-hour biopic Malcolm X about the life of the civil rights leader. Betty was Malcolm X’s devoted wife. The two renowned actors have a wonderful chemistry together as they develop through character arcs and confront harsh realities. When he breathlessly proposes to her over the phone and she agrees right away, sweetly, the couple strengthens their wonderful portrayal as two youngsters in love.
As their lives continue on, Betty transforms into a fearful woman who is desperately attempting to persuade her husband to recognize the danger he is in. When Malcolm X is killed, Bassett really impresses with a gut-wrenching scream that is so real it almost makes you shudder. Bassett was nominated for the Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promising Actress for a performance that arguably should have been her first Oscar award. She also won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture.
Bassett has put out several amazing performances over the course of a distinguished career spanning four decades. Is she going to receive her Oscar this year? Go ahead, underestimate me, Bassett remarked in a recent interview with the New York Times.
Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)
As the rigid new CIA director Erika Sloane, Bassett makes a surprising but no less impressive appearance in Tom Cruise’s ever-expanding franchise. Ethan Hunt (Cruise) retains his status quo as the CIA’s wild card in the sixth installment of the series, Mission: Impossible – Fallout, leading the no-nonsense Sloane to assign him a babysitter. She might even be the most vicious of them, and her gender is in no way a justification for her to be less so than her predominately male coworkers ( “A scalpel is employed. I like using a hammer “).
Sloane responds without missing a beat when Alec Baldwin’s character points out that Hunt’s squad would have perished in a recent mission if not for the bravery that cost them the valuable plutonium, telling him, “That’s the job.” When Bassett thanks Hunt for his labor and explains that his preference for one life over the millions gives her the opportunity to consider the millions, she shows a complex arc that involves a convincing but complete 180. Although the film wasn’t very thought-provoking, Bassett gave a solid and consistent performance.
Notorious (2009)
In her sympathetic portrayal of Voletta in Notorious, Bassett pays a kind tribute to the mother of Christopher “Biggie Smalls” Wallace. Bassett gives the movie a strong maternal presence as the harsh rapper with a loving mother. Amazing to watch Christopher (Jamal “Gravy” Woolard), who towers over his mother, while she chastises him for distributing drugs, exiles him, and tells him he’s “still a damn boy,” as she does. The anecdote shows that Bassett had a sincere understanding of and affection for the character. As she observes the crowd outside Biggie’s funeral procession at the end of the movie, Bassett delivers a heartbreaking voiceover that provides the spectator a fresh perspective and empathy for everyone who loved him.
Sunshine State (2002)
The role of a former beauty queen returning to her hometown in Sunshine State, years after she left the city as a pregnant teen, earned Bassett many honors (including the Black Reel Award for Best Actress and the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture). As she deals with a passive-aggressive mother and an ex-boyfriend who is also the father of her child, the viewer is immediately on her side. She communicates a quiet, restrained wrath through her low murmurs and tense body language, which towards the film’s conclusion gives way to a deep, motionless melancholy. Edie Falco’s moving portrayal of a weary Southern motelier deserves honorable mention, but Bassett steals the show throughout with a subtly brilliant story arc about the importance of owning who you are.
Waiting to Exhale (1995)
With co-stars like Whitney Houston, Loretta Devine, and Lela Rochon, it couldn’t have been simple to distinguish out, but as an icon in her own right, Bassett excels as the betrayed Bernadine Harris in Waiting to Exhale. In the scene where Bernadette learns that her husband of 11 years is leaving her for a white woman, she delivers one of her most recognizable performances. She begins by acting a little frantic and murmuring under her breath about all the sacrifices she has made for him. As her wrath grows, she eventually starts throwing his valuable wardrobe’s contents into his car and burning it on fire.
The fact that Bernie has the last word as she exits the flaming car like the star of an action movie is what matters, regardless of the fact that he isn’t present to see it or that her voice is breaking and she is gasping for air. Bassett, who was nominated with Houston herself, received the Image Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Motion Picture after providing everyone in the audience who has ever been wronged by a lover a feeling of enormous satisfaction.
What’s Love Got to Do with It (1993)
What’s Love Got to Do with It, the biopic about Tina Turner, is another movie where Bassett demonstrates her mastery of character development. With her trademark grin, she brilliantly depicts the innocent naivety of the young, wide-eyed Anna Mae, and she is able to bring it back when she needs to conceal her pain behind the camera. Bassett imitates the movements of the actual Tina down to the elbows in her performances by channeling Tina’s pain stemming from her relationships with Ike and her mother.
Bassett’s acting deteriorates as Tina’s problems develop, and her trademark smile starts to convey just about every emotion imaginable. Bassett actually demonstrates how to portray genuine, unadulterated passion in a master lesson when Tina ultimately leaves Ike and smiles her way out of the courtroom (despite leaving with nothing more than her stage name).
