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[[caption-width-right:304:[[Creator/ArianaDeBose She did the thing!]]]]

Angela Evelyn Bassett (born August 16, 1958 in New York City) is an American actress. She is well-known for her biographical film roles portraying famous Black women, including Music/TinaTurner, [[Film/MalcolmX Betty Shabazz]], [[UsefulNotes/CivilRightsMovement Rosa Parks]] and [[Music/MichaelJackson Katherine Jackson]], and as she has gotten older, she has become one of Hollywood's go-to actresses to play a BlackBossLady--she has played such roles in ''Film/GreenLantern2011'', ''Film/{{Black Panther|2018}}'', and ''Film/MissionImpossibleFallout''.

Bassett was born in Harlem, New York and moved to St. Petersburg, Florida as a child. She has a bachelor's degree in African-American Studies and a Masters in Fine Arts from Yale University. After a handful of early film and TV appearances, her first significant recognition came with her roles in ''Film/BoyzNTheHood'' and ''Film/MalcolmX'' before several of the above-mentioned roles elevated her to fame.

Among her awards, she has won two MediaNotes/{{Golden Globe}}s for her performances as Tina Turner in ''Film/WhatsLoveGotToDoWithIt1993'' and as Queen Ramonda in ''Film/BlackPantherWakandaForever''; the first win made her the first African-American to win a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture -- Musical or Comedy. For both of these roles, she was also nominated for two MediaNotes/{{Academy Award}}s (for Best [[MediaNotes/AcademyAwardForBestActressInALeadingRole Lead]] and [[MediaNotes/AcademyAwardForBestActressInASupportingRole Supporting Actress]], respectively); her ''Black Panther'' nomination marked the first time an actor has been Oscar-nominated for a role in a [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse Marvel film]]. She has further been nominated for seven MediaNotes/{{Emmy Award}}s and a UsefulNotes/{{BAFTA}}.

Bassett has been married to Creator/CourtneyBVance since 1997; the two appeared as husband and wife on ''Series/{{ER}}''. They have two children together.

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!!Selected Filmography:
* ''Film/{{Challenger}}'' (1990) as Cheryl [=McNair=]
* ''Film/BoyzNTheHood'' (1991) as Reva Devereaux
* ''Film/Critters4'' (1992) as Fran
* ''Series/TheJacksonsAnAmericanDream'' (1992) as Katherine Jackson
* ''Film/MalcolmX'' (1992) as Betty Shabazz
* ''[[Film/WhatsLoveGotToDoWithIt1993 What's Love Got to Do with It?]]'' (1993) as Music/TinaTurner
* ''Film/WaitingToExhale'' (1995) as Bernadine 'Bernie' Harris
* ''Film/StrangeDays'' (1996) as Lornette 'Mace' Mason
* ''Film/{{Contact}}'' (1997) as Rachel Constantine
* ''Film/HowStellaGotHerGrooveBack'' (1998) as Stella
* ''WesternAnimation/OurFriendMartin'' (1999) as Mrs. Woodman (voice)
* ''Film/WhispersAnElephantsTale'' (2000) as Groove (voice)
* ''Film/TheScore'' (2001) as Diane
* ''Film/AkeelahAndTheBee'' (2006) as Tanya Anderson
* ''WesternAnimation/MeetTheRobinsons'' (2007) as Mildred (voice)
* ''Series/{{ER}}'' (2008 -- 2009) as Dr. Cate Banfield
* ''Film/{{Notorious|2009}}'' (2009) as Violetta Wallace
* ''Film/JumpingTheBroom'' (2011) as Claudine Watson
* ''Film/{{Green Lantern|2011}}'' (2011) as ComicBook/AmandaWaller [[note]]This film was intended to launch the Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse, with Bassett continuing to play the role. She was replaced by Creator/ViolaDavis when the film was dropped from the franchise, and ended up in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse instead as noted below.[[/note]]
* ''Film/{{This Means War|2012}}'' (2012) as Sarah Collins
* ''Film/OlympusHasFallen'' (2013) as Lynne Jacobs
** ''Film/LondonHasFallen'' (2016)
* ''Series/AmericanHorrorStory'' (2013 -- present) in various roles:
** ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryCoven'' (2013 -- 2014) as [[HistoricalDomainCharacter Marie LaVeau]]
** ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryFreakShow'' (2014 -- 2015) as Desiree Dupree
** ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryHotel'' (2015 -- 2016) as Ramona Royale
** ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryRoanoke'' (2016) as Monet Tumusiime
** ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryApocalypse'' (2018) as [=Marie LaVeau=]
* ''Film/{{Survivor|2015}}'' (2015) as Maureen Crane
* ''Tom Clancy's VideoGame/RainbowSixSiege'' (2015) as Six (voice and motion capture)
* ''WesternAnimation/BoJackHorseman'' (2015 - 2016) as Ana Spanakopita (voice)
* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse (2018 -- present) as Queen Ramonda
** ''Film/{{Black Panther|2018}}'' (2018)
** ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' (2019)
** ''[[WesternAnimation/WhatIf2021 What If...?]]'' (2021) (voice)
** ''Film/BlackPantherWakandaForever'' (2022)
* ''Film/MissionImpossibleFallout'' (2018) as CIA Director Erika Sloane
* ''Film/{{Bumblebee}}'' (2018) as Shatter (voice)
* ''Series/NineOneOne'' (2018 -- present) as Sgt. Athena Grant
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Soul}}'' (2020) as Dorothea Williams (voice)
* ''Film/GunpowderMilkshake'' (2021) as Anna May
* ''VideoGame/HorizonForbiddenWest'' (2022) as Regalla (voice and motion capture)
* ''WesternAnimation/WendellAndWild'' (2022) as Sister Helley (voice)
* ''WesternAnimation/OrionAndTheDark'' (2024) as Sweet Dreams (voice)
* ''Film/{{Damsel}}'' (2024) Lady Bayford
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!!Related Tropes:
* HappilyMarried: To Creator/CourtneyBVance since 1997 (although the two had been together for several years beforehand).
* OlderThanTheyLook: She is currently in her sixties, but could pass for being in her forties. In fact, when she arrived on the red carpet at the 70th Emmy Awards, Twitter quickly filled up with shocked posts when people learned that she was 60 years old at that time.
* {{Typecasting}}: Downplayed: her range allows her to play a variety of roles, but plenty of her projects have her as a mother/matriarch (''Series/TheJacksonsAnAmericanDream'', ''Film/{{Notorious|2009}}, Film/{{Black Panther|2018}}'', etc.)