Actor Biography
Angela Bassett is an actress, director and executive producer known for captivating performances full of dignity in treasured films such as "Waiting to Exhale," "How Stella Got Her Groove Back," "Boyz n the Hood" and "What's Love Got to Do with It," for which she received a Golden Globe® Award and an Academy Award® nomination.
The honorary Oscar® recipient has made star-turns in the historic "Black Panther," "Mission: Impossible – Fallout" and "Bumblebee" films and "9-1-1" and "Master of None" series. Other projects include Disney/Pixar's Academy Award-winning animated feature "Soul," for which she lent her melodious voice for the character Dorothea Williams; feature films "Otherhood" and "Gunpowder Milkshake" from Netflix; and "The Flood" from National Geographic, for which she received an Emmy® nomination for Outstanding Narrator. Further, she was nominated for two Emmys, including Outstanding Narrator for the "Imagineering Story: The Happiest Place on Earth" and Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for "A Black Lady Sketch Show."
Bassett recently reprised her role as the beloved Queen Ramonda in "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," for which she received Golden Globe and Critics Choice awards, with Academy Award, SAG and BAFTA nominations, as well as the Variety Creative Impact in Acting Award, the Santa Barbara International Film Festival's top honor Montecito Award, two Hollywood Critics Association Awards and an NAACP Image Award, including Entertainer of the Year.
Apple Original Films announced the documentary feature, "Number One on the Call Sheet: Black Leading Women in Hollywood," which is to be directed by Shola Lynch with Bassett and Halle Berry on board as executive producers and will debut globally on AppleTV+. She co-stars alongside Millie Bobby Brown in the Netflix Originals feature film "Damsel," premiering March 2024.
Bassett is the recipient of a SAG Award, an AAFCA Honors Award, 16 NAACP Image Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Black Girls Rock! Icon Award. She was recently honored by Glamour's Women of the Year and Time Magazine's Women of the Year. She received a Critics Choice Documentary Award for Best Narration of "Good Night Oppy" and the Critics Choice Celebration of Black Cinema & Television Career Achievement Award and was honored with a coveted star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Bassett earned multiple Emmy nominations and was also nominated for a Directors Guild of America Award for the Whitney Houston biopic "Whitney," which was her directorial debut. Bassett further showcased her directing talents in the popular horror anthology series "American Horror Story."
Bassett graduated with a B.A. in African American studies, an M.F.A. in drama, and an honorary doctorate from Yale University. She also has honorary doctorates from Morehouse College and Old Dominion University.
Bassett and her husband, Courtney Vance, are the founders and co-CEOs of Bassett Vance Productions. In partnership with MTVE Studios, Bassett Vance Productions works to create diverse and inclusive content for Paramount Global. Their first project, "One Thousand Years of Slavery," aired in February 2022 on the Smithsonian Channel, and "Heist 88," a feature film starring Vance, aired on Showtime Networks in 2023.