Angela Bassett
Angela Bassett’s talent and abilities as an actress, director and executive producer in both television and film have garnered well-deserved respect and acclaim from peers and fans, proving her to be one of the industry’s premier leading ladies.
For her role as “Athena Grant” in 9-1-1, Bassett was awarded the 2020 NAACP Image Award for Actress in a Drama Series and nominated for Entertainer of the Year. Bassett also was honored by the Critics Choice Association with Best Actress in an Action Series, in its inaugural Critics Choice Super Awards, which aired in January 2021.
Since 2019, Bassett has received her fifth, sixth and seventh career Emmy Award nominations, including two in the category of Outstanding Narrator, for her work on the documentaries “The Flood” (2019) and “The Imagineering Story” (2020); and a nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for “A Black Lady Sketch Show” (2020).
Most recently, Bassett provided the voice of “Dorothea,” opposite Jamie Foxx, in the animated feature film “Soul,” which debuted on Christmas Day. She also starred in the streaming movie “Otherhood,” opposite Patricia Arquette and Felicity Huffman. Her most recent feature film roles include “Mission: Impossible – Fallout,” alongside Tom Cruise; and the blockbuster “Black Panther.” She next will be seen in the action film “Gunpowder Milkshake,” opposite Carla Gugino, set for release in 2021.
Bassett starred in three seasons of the hit anthology series “American Horror Story,” from Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk: “American Horror Story: Roanoke,” “American Horror Story: Hotel” and “American Horror Story: Coven.” Her performances in “Hotel” and “Coven” earned her Emmy Award nominations in the category of Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie. She reprised her “Coven” role in the season finale of “American Horror Story: Apocalypse.”
In 2017, Bassett received her fourth career Emmy Award nomination for her guest performance on “Master of None.” She previously competed in the category of Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie for “The Rosa Parks Story” in 2002. In 2016, Bassett was nominated for her first Directors Guild of America Award for her directorial debut on the cable film “Whitney.”
Also in 2016, Bassett reprised her role as “Lynne Jacobs” in “London Has Fallen,” the sequel to “Olympus Has Fallen,” alongside Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart and Morgan Freeman. She also appeared in Spike Lee’s film, “Chiraq”; and writer/director Stephen Poliakoff’s miniseries, “Close to the Enemy,” alongside Jim Sturgess, Freddie Highmore, Charlotte Riley and Alfred Molina.
Always expanding the many facets of her talents, Bassett ventured into a new entertainment medium, as the lead character in Tom Clancy’s “Rainbow Six Siege,” the highly acclaimed first-person shooter video game franchise. She also lent her voice to the animated series “Bojack Horseman,” alongside Will Arnett and Amy Sedaris, which ended its run in 2020. She also directed episodes of “American Horror Story: Cult” and the network drama “Scandal.”
Bassett was seen in director James McTeigue’s “Survivor,” opposite Pierce Brosnan, Emma Thompson and Milla Jovovich; and in Gregg Araki’s “Whitebird in a Blizzard,” opposite Shailene Woodley. She returned to the musical genre in the film “Black Nativity,” opposite Forest Whitaker, for director Kasi Lemmons, and received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for her work as Coretta Scott King in the cable movie “Betty and Coretta.”
Bassett made her feature debut as an actor in John Singleton’s “Boyz N the Hood.” Other memorable roles include Terry McMillan’s “Waiting to Exhale,” co-starring Whitney Houston; Kathryn Bigelow’s futuristic “Strange Days,” with Ralph Fiennes; “Vampire in Brooklyn,” opposite Eddie Murphy; and “Supernova,” with James Spader.
Perhaps best known for her intense portrayal of Tina Turner in the biopic “What’s Love Got To Do With It,” opposite Laurence Fishburne, Bassett earned the Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical, an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Motion Picture and an Academy Award nomination.