MOVIES
What is Angela Bassett nominated for at the 2023 Oscars?
Angela Bassett has broken the record as the first actor to receive an Academy Award nomination for a Marvel movie.
Angela Bassett plays Queen Ramonda in ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’, and portrayed the soulful nuances of the character so well she landed the Marvel franchise their first nomination for acting.
The actress has influenced the younger generations of entertainers to such an extent that Ariana DeBose made a tribute to Bassett in a rap video about powerful women.
‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’
In the ‘Black Panther’ sequel, Bassett’s character, Queen Ramonda, leader of Wakanda, struggles to overcome her grief caused by the loss of her son, T’Challa, who is played by the late Chadwick Boseman.
Boseman tragically passed away from colon cancer in 2020.
Ramonda’s goal in the movie is to protect her daughter, Shuri, played by Letitia Wright, who takes on the responsibility as Black Panther which was passed onto her by her brother.
Bassett is nominated for the Best Supporting Actress award, after winning the same prize at the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards.
The film has received five Oscar nominations in total, including Best Visual Effects, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Original Song ‘Lift Me Up’ and Best Costume Design after raking in more than $858.5 million at the global box office.
Fellow nominees include Kerry Condon for ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’ and Jamie Lee Curtis for ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’, who also picked up awards this season, at the British Academy Film Awards and Screen Actors Guild Awards respectively.
The bitter sweet sequel
Bassett lamented the loss of Boseman and simultaneously acknowledged the pressure and expectation now surrounding the film.
The ‘Wakanda Forever’ movie, sequel to ‘Black Panther’, centers around a female cast and has done well among fans and wider audiences alike, as well as within the voting community for the 2023 Academy Awards.
Bassett’s long acting career
In addition to ‘Black Panther’, Bassett has done extensive work in both film and television. The actress’ last Oscar nomination was three decades ago for her role as Tina Turner in the epic biopic, ‘What’s Love Got to Do With It’.
Bassett has acted in films including ‘Sunshine State’, ‘Waiting to Exhale’, and ‘How Stella Got Her Groove Back’, and on television in Fox’s ‘9-1-1′ and FX’s ‘American Horror Story’.