Angela Bassett is set to receive an Academy Honorary Award at the 2024 Oscars ceremony. The award recognizes “extraordinary distinction in lifetime achievement, exceptional contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences, or outstanding service to the Academy.” While Bassett is certainly worthy of the honor, it has raised the question of why she doesn’t already have a non-honorary Academy Award, as well. The truth is, the actress had at least five opportunities throughout her decades-long influential career to nab a well-deserved Oscar.
Throughout her career, Bassett has been nominated for an Academy Award twice. She was nominated for her first Academy Award for Best Actress in 1993 after she transformed wholly into the Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll Tina Turner for the biopic What’s Love Got to Do With It? However, Holly Hunter ultimately took home the win for her role in The Piano. Bassett’s next Oscar nomination came about three decades later when she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the 2022 film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Bassett dazzled as Queen Ramonda in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and secured the first-ever Oscar nomination for an actor in a Marvel film. But she did not win Best Supporting Actress, as it went to Jamie Lee Curtis for her performance in Everything Everywhere All At Once.
Because trolls on the internet feel the need to police everything women do, some had the audacity to criticize Bassett for looking momentarily disappointed when she didn’t win. Just the fact that she didn’t secure a prestigious award for her fantastic performance despite being the frontrunner warranted a moment of disappointment. However, her reaction was even more understandable when we acknowledge that this is far from the first time she has been robbed or snubbed of an Academy Award.
Here are five performances from Bassett that should’ve won her an Academy Award long before she received an honorary one.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
As mentioned above, Bassett was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the 92nd Academy Awards for her role in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. In this sequel to Black Panther, she reprised her role as Queen Ramonda, which was much more emotional and intense this time around because she wasn’t just the Queen of Wakanda, but also a grieving mother and a leader desperately trying to protect her people while they were under attack. She managed to encompass a difficult balance of power, vulnerability, humanity, and dignity in a performance that can only be defined as beautiful art. Her brief moment of disappointment at the Oscars was warranted because, let’s be honest, she absolutely should’ve won for that performance.
Strange Days
It’s shocking that Bassett’s performance in Kathryn Bigelow’s 1995 sci-fi thriller Strange Days wasn’t given an Oscar nod at all, despite being one of her most powerful performances. In the film, she portrays Mace Mason, a tough bodyguard and limousine driver, who gets pulled into an investigation of the LAPD police force with her friend Lenny (Ralph Fiennes). She has been a victim of police brutality and racism and is a single mother and a professional who has excelled in her career despite the odds being against her.
Strange Days is a fairly heavy film that was ahead of its time in its discussion of police brutality and corruption, but Bassett showed no signs of the emotional toll as she delved right in and provided a believable and powerful depiction of a woman who has risen above her tragic past and broken down the barriers to be a badass action hero. Considering how incredibly well she nailed both the physical and emotional aspects of a difficult role, she should’ve easily scooped up an Oscar nomination.
What’s Love Got to Do With It?
In 1993, Bassett took on the responsibility of portraying one of the greatest singers of all time—Tina Turner. Her lead role in the biopic What’s Love Got to Do With It? came with a lot of pressure. However, Bassett delved deep into the role and completely transformed into Turner. While she didn’t do the vocals, she was able to flawlessly capture exactly how Turner danced, walked, talked, and carried herself. Additionally, she portrayed extremely challenging scenes that depicted Turner’s abuse at the hands of her ex-husband, Ike (Laurence Fishburne). While she was able to capture the emotional trauma, she was also able to capture Turner’s strength in several goosebump-inducing scenes when she takes back her life and dazzles the world with electrifying performances.
Bassett really outdid herself with What’s Love Got to Do With It? and you can see the results of the grueling hours she spent morphing into Turner to respect the legacy and spirit of the singer. Just like with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the fact that she took home an Oscar nomination but not a win is incomprehensible.
Malcolm X
In Malcolm X, Bassett again brought a historical figure to life in a powerful way. In Spike Lee’s 1992 film, Bassett portrays Malcolm’s (Denzel Washington) wife, Betty Shabazz, a nurse and activist with the Nation of Islam (NOI). She beautifully captured Betty’s relationship with Malcolm and the strength, power, and intelligence this woman carried. Additionally, she really drew viewers into the subplot of Malcolm and Betty leaving behind Islam and Betty’s role in her marriage shifting to give her more power and freedom.
Bassett refused to be overshadowed by Washington, managing to compliment his performance further while also ensuring Betty’s story was heard. She really didn’t have a lot of screen time to develop Betty, making it even more impressive that she was still able to fully convey who Betty was. While Denzel was nominated for Best Actor for his role, Bassett was oddly snubbed despite clearly deserving a Best Supporting Actress nomination.
Boyz n the Hood
Bassett had a fairly minor role in 1991’s Boyz n the Hood, but she still managed to stand out. In the film, Bassett portrays the no-nonsense single mother of Jason “Tre” Styles (Cuba Gooding Jr). As a single mother, she’s stretched thin caring for her mischievous son, who gets in trouble at school. However, she’s never slow to take action and do whatever is in his best interest. Whether it’s sending him to live with his father or confronting her son’s father about his parenting decisions, she’s not afraid to say what she feels. She’s also not afraid to demand respect for the work she has done for a mother and refuses to put Tre’s father on a pedestal for simply stepping up as a father as he’s supposed to do.
Bassett’s appearances are brief, but she demands attention in every scene she is in and manages to say a lot about parenthood and gender roles. The fact that this was just her third feature film made her performance even more impressive. She proved that no role is too small by packing an Oscar-worthy performance into a handful of scenes.
(featured image: 20th Century Fox / Warner Bros. / Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / Buena Vista Pictures Distribution / Columbia Pictures)
