Angela Bassett will soon be able to add “Oscar winner” to her list of achievements.
On Monday, June 26, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that the actress will receive an honorary Academy Award at this year’s Governors Awards. Bassett, 64, will be honored with the golden statue alongside Mel Brooks and Carol Littleton, with Michelle Satter receiving the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.
Janet Yang (the Academy President) said in a press statement: “The Academy’s Board of Governors is thrilled to honor four trailblazers who have transformed the film industry and inspired generations of filmmakers and movie fans. Across her decades-long career, Angela Bassett has continued to deliver transcendent performances that set new standards in acting.”
Though she’s had an iconic career, the 9-1-1 star has only been nominated for an Oscar on two separate occasions, but she has never won one. The first nomination she received was for her outstanding portrayal of Tina Turner in the 1993 film, What’s Love Got to Do with It? That year, the award went to Holly Hunter for her role in The Piano.
At the 2023 Oscars, Bassett was nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category for her moving performance as Queen Ramonda in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, making history as the first performer from a Marvel movie to be nominated for the award.
While many critics believed Bassett was a shoo-in to win the award, the golden statue instead went to Jamie Lee Curtis, who won for her (also great) performance in Everything Everywhere All at Once. After the ceremony, a clip of the Black Panther star went viral online, which visibly shows her looking disappointed at her loss.
This led fans of the actress to loudly call it a mistake that Bassett has not only never won an award, but that she hasn’t been nominated for more of her work. However, now, that mistake is being rectified and Bassett will finally receive her Oscar.
You deserve your flowers, Angela.
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