Angela Bassett
Angela Bassett
Angela Evelyn Bassett, MFA,is an American actress and film director. She is best known for her biographical film roles, most notably her Academy Award-nominated performance as Tina Turner in the biopic What's Love Got to Do with It. In addition, Bassett has portrayed Betty Shabazz in Malcolm X and Panther, Rosa Parks in The Rosa Parks Story, Coretta Scott King in Betty and Coretta, Katherine Jackson in The Jacksons: An American Dream, and Voletta Wallace in Notorious...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionMovie Actress
Date of Birth16 August 1958
CityNew York City, NY
CountryUnited States of America
When I got married, I was all in love, but then came life intruding in, and sometimes it's difficult ... I would look at my husband and ask, 'did we do it too quickly?' ... But my husband was strong in his resolve. He kept reminding me that people go through this, and that we were going to be ok.
When I was in school, my mother stressed education. I am so glad she did. I graduated from Yale College and Yale University with my master's and I didn't do it by missing school.
Theater's my first love. I love it. It excites me. It feeds me.
As an actor, you're used to putting on characters, taking them off, becoming someone else, doing your research, and working on that.
When you realize that every breath is a gift from God. When you realize how small you are, but how much he loved you. That he, Jesus, would die, the son of God himself on earth, then you...you just weep.
I really believe that what I do as an actress is my God-given talent. This is my calling, not my career.
I can give you the King's English and then I can take it to the street, but do both or do one and don't do one knowing only the street. That's going to hold you back because what comes out is going to impress people, and it will impress them negatively.
Loving God is like my being black. I just am. [No one says] 'You know what? I'm gonna be blacker today!' It's my culture. It's not something I put on or take off or show more. You just communicate that in the way you live your life.
You can't always do that which you can do in your sleep. That doesn't fulfill an artist. You're looking for places where you can grow, in some way, whether it's a large way or a small way. I want to grow as an artist, as a person and as a woman. I want to enjoy myself and my life and the company that I'm keeping. I want to bring something to the table that's different than anything else would bring, but that has its place and value, and then keep moving.
When you ask the best questions of yourself and others, you invite the best answers.
This is a career about images. It's celluloid; they last for ever. I'm a black woman from America. My people were slaves in America, and even though we're free on paper and in law, I'm not going to allow you to enslave me on film, in celluloid, for all to see.
Don't settle for average. Bring your best to the moment. Then, whether it fails or succeeds, at least you know you gave all you had. We need to live the best that's in us.
I would straggle the line between being the bright and smart kid and trying to be cool in the lunch room that sort of thing.
I think we both have a genuine respect and love for what we do. Theater is sacred.