Angela Bassett was the front-runner for Best Supporting Actress for her work in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, but during the 2023 Oscars, Jamie Lee Curtis picked up the honor for Everything, Everywhere All At Once.
This marked Bassett’s second nomination, the first being for Best Actress in What’s Love Got to Do with It. The Marvel superhero film finally got her back to the big award show but faced what many feel is an industry bias against comic book movies at the Academy Awards.
After taking the year to process the loss, Bassett sat down with Oprah Winfrey for an interview with Oprah Winfrey for OWN. During the conversation, Winfrey said, “People are saying your disappointment showed, but I thought you handled it really well.”
The iconic actress gave a respectable answer, adding: “I thought I handled it very well, also. And that was my intention, to handle it very well. It was, of course, a supreme disappointment, and disappointment is human. So I thought, yes, I was disappointed, and I handled it like a human being.”
“There are going to be these moments of disappointment that they’re going to experience, but how do you handle yourself in the midst of them? So, we’re going to smile, we’re going to be gracious, we’re going to be kind, we’re going to party – anyway,” she adds.”
While she didn’t take home the prize at last year’s event, Bassett received an honorary Oscar at this year’s Governor Awards. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever meanwhile is streaming on Disney+ and the 96th Academy Awards will be presented this evening.
