The Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars, is the most prestigious film awarding body in the United States and is one of the best in the world. Having an Oscar is the pride and goal for many actors, the crowning recognition of the work that goes into acting. But the Oscars have a knack for snubbing highly talented people who deserve it. Angela Bassett is one of such people who have been on the receiving end of Oscar snubs.
Bassett is a widely recognized actress whose skill and work precede her. She has performed, in film, television and in theatre, excelling at the trifecta of the three main mediums for acting. Bassett is one of the most prolific actresses of her time. Her work, the numerous awards she has won and been nominated for as well as the place she holds in the heart of her fans all speak to this, which is why her Oscars snub matters.
Black Panther Was Not The First Oscar Snub
The 2023 Oscars had strong contenders for the Best films, Best actors, actresses, and supporting cast. Bassett was in the line-up of nominees for Best Supporting Actress which also contained Hong Chau, Stephanie Hsu, Kerry Cordon and Jamie Lee Curtis – who was the eventual winner. This nomination was for Best Supporting Actress for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. This was not the first time that she had been snubbed at the Oscars.
In 1993, Bassett played the lead role in the Tina Turner biopic What’s Love Got To Do With It. This remains one of her best performances and it immediately established her as the iconic actress she is known as to date. For her role, she became the first African-American to win the Golden Globe for Best Actress. In that same year, she was snubbed by the Oscars for a role where she accurately depicted the life and artistry of one of the most electric performers of all time.
What Does Angela Bassett Winning an Oscar Mean?
There are two things that winning the 2023 Oscar for Best Supporting Actress would have meant. One of them is the recognition of the work actors do when it comes to movies based on comic-book characters. Only one film has achieved this and it was Heath Ledger for the Christopher Nolan 2008 film The Dark Knight with his posthumous win of Best Supporting Actor. It has been over a decade and this has not happened again. Bassett’s performance as Queen Ramonda was raw and captivating, as she had done in the past Angela Bassett reminded us of the range of her skill.
The second thing an Angela Bassett Oscar win would mean is the acknowledgement of black talent in an industry that might be very old but is still in its infancy when it comes to proper representation of marginalized groups. A Bassett Oscar would inspire the many young black actresses and actors that even an Oscar is possible. Above all, it is a deserved win, for the power of her performances and her ability to evoke the strongest feelings in viewers because of the strength of her performances.
What Does Angela Bassett Think of the Snubs?
When Jamie Lee Curtis was announced as the winner of Best Supporting Actress at the 95th Academy Awards, it was noticed that Bassett did not enthusiastically express admiration and joy for the actress who had won an award she wanted. This caused some sour reactions with comments stating that the actress was a sore loser. Bassett spoke about her feelings on losing an Oscar. She did this in terms of expressing empathy for Austin Butler, who also did not win his Oscar nomination for Best Actor for his performance in Elvis.
This was also not the first time she had voiced her feelings about missing out on an Oscar. Bassett had spoken to CBS about not winning the Oscar for What’s Love Got To Do With It when it was announced that she had been nominated for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. In the interview, she talked about her career and how she has grown through the years. On the feeling of being robbed by the Oscars, she had this to say: “In the moment… you’re hoping, and praying, and wishing, but I don’t walk away thinking ‘I’ve been robbed,’ that’s too negative of an emotion to carry with me for the rest of my life.”
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