ANGELA BASSETT COVERS NEW BEAUTY MAGAZINE

This article first appeared in the Fall 2019 issue of NewBeauty. When Angela Bassett arrives to our cover shoot, she does the unthinkable: she shows up early. There are no airs—she got ready at-home with her loyal glam squad—there are no requests, besides a black coffee, and there is, thankfully, no drama, even though the rest of us are scrambling to finish prep. “I’m ready when you are,” the 61-year-old says, taking a deep, almost meditative-like breath as she steps in front of the camera, bringing that same energy she projects on the big screen to a still photo shoot. To say she is busy is an understatement: Besides being a mom to 13-year-old twins Bronwyn and Slater with husband Courtney B. Vance, there’s tomorrow’s flight to Berlin to start filming Gunpowder Milkshake, a female-driven action film Bassett says will be “strong and powerful for women.” There was also last weekend’s talk as a spokesperson for the American Heart Association. Soon, there will be her sort of start-of-fall, back-to-the-grind regular gig of Fox’s 9-1-1, what she refers to as “a feature film every week.” And then there is her first Netflix film, Otherhood, featuring Felicity Huffman and Patricia Arquette, available now. “Which child am I most passionate about work-wise? All of them. But this one [Otherhood] is special because it hits on my mother’s birthday and we filmed it in New York—is there anything better? “But you never know…” she trails. “Of course, you do this kind of work and you hope that there is an audience of people—hopefully a diverse audience who’ll get a chance to see you, who’ll come to know you and appreciate your work and become fans and all of that, but you never know who will like it or how it will turn out.” A surprising admission for one of Hollywood’s most celebrated actresses, maybe, but Bassett readily admits she feels as if she’s continually striving to grow and get herself out there when it comes to her career. “Of course, when they say, ‘I wrote this for you,’ it’s such a tremendous boost to anyone’s confidence, but it’s all about faith—you don’t know if a project will fly or if it will fail. You always go into it with the highest of hopes and expectations, but you never know what is going to capture the hearts. You want to go in with the greatest of intentions and come away with great experiences and wonderful relationships made. So you say ‘yes.’ It’s important to say ‘yes.’”