Angela Bassett on Playing Tina Turner and Queen Ramonda of Wakanda
b'It\\u2019s been almost three decades since Angela Bassett emerged in Hollywood as a \\u201ctotem of empowered Black womanhood,\\u201d as Michael Schulman puts it\\u2014known for groundbreaking roles in films like \\u201cWhat\\u2019s Love Got to Do with It\\u201d and \\u201cHow Stella Got Her Groove Back.\\u201d Now, at sixty-four, Bassett is nominated for an Oscar for her performance in \\u201cBlack Panther: Wakanda Forever.\\u201d As the fierce, grieving Queen Ramonda, she is the first actor nominated for any Marvel movie. Bassett speaks with Schulman about her preparation for the film, and reflects on how a poetry recitation drove her to acting as a young person. \\u201cIt was the first recognition for me, at fifteen, that drama, that theatre, that words, that passion from one human being could move another,\\u201d she says. \\u201cAnd that maybe I had a gift for it.\\u201d'