Actress Angela Bassett, 67: What I Know Now

The ‘Black Panther’ star riffs on Tom Cruise, old and young fans, and spending quality time with her teenage twins

As told to

Claire McIntosh and Natasha Stoynoff,

AARP

Comments

Published November 21, 2025

After stealing scenes in Boyz n the Hood (1991) and Malcolm X (1992), Angela Bassett strutted across the stage to stardom as Tina Turner in What’s Love Got to Do With It (1993), a high-voltage performance that won her a Golden Globe and an Oscar nod. Thirty-two years later, she remains at the top of her game. Of late, she’s been a queen (Black Panther’s regal Ramonda, a role that earned her AARP Movies for Grownups Awards nominations for best supporting actress in 2019 and 2023), an immortal (American Horror Story’s unforgettable Marie Laveau) and even a president (Zero Day).

Season 9 of her hit series 9-1-1 is now airing on ABC, plunging Bassett back into the high-octane world of Los Angeles first responders.

The on-set experience has shifted her own perspective on health and prevention, she says, so she’s joined a campaign to help raise public awareness about respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

“If you’re lucky,” she tells AARP, during a stop in New York, “your work touches others and you can make an impact.” Here’s more advice and musings from Bassett, in her own words.

Discover your gifts

During a high school summer program, I entered a talent show, although I didn’t really have a talent. But in the library, I had put on an album of Ruby Dee reciting Langston Hughes poems, and it was electric, eye-opening. Her voice! I strung the poems together in a theatrical way for the show, and that was my talent. It kicked off my acting.

Ignore doubters

When I started acting, my auntie asked: “How will you feed yourself? How will you keep the lights on?” But never mind naysayers — if it’s for you, go for it.

If you build it …

After I graduated from drama school at Yale and moved to New York, there wasn’t much opportunity — some soap operas, two television shows, commercials and only four TV stations. What do we have now? A lot. It’s more fun now; you get to see the work of so many others, and you can make your own opportunities.

Limitless impact

When Black Panther [2018] came out, the 97-year-old church ladies were like: “Ah, that was my movie!” I had little kids running up to me, hugging my leg, and they loved it too. It’s amazing that a work of art can touch so many generations and impact individuals across the world.

Lessons from Tom Cruise

He’s the best. When I showed up on the set of Mission: Impossible, he would say, “Don’t worry about the lines. We’re going to take our time and get this thing right.” I could play the scene whatever way I wanted, I could attack the role this way or that way. I could be stern with him, or I could have more camaraderie. I loved that. Options, options, options.

We’re all connected

I think 9-1-1 is a fan favorite because it’s about the relationships we share with each other, the things we go through. Fans can see a bit of themselves in it, in life, in the glimmers, in the traumas, in the support and in the love. In going through hard times and the resilience, and sometimes the ridiculousness of it all.

Limitless impact

Lessons from Tom Cruise

We’re all connected

Good guys

My husband [actor Courtney B. Vance] has many wonderful qualities, but chief among them is that he cares about people. He will listen to you and will make sure you are comfortable. He was a very dutiful and loving son. His mother had ALS, and he took care of her. I hope my children care for me half as well as he did for her. We’re nearing our 30th anniversary. It’s a beautiful partnership.

Long-distance love

I’m in New York right now, and Courtney’s in California, so we’ve got this bicoastal thing happening today. We say goodnight and good morning — and it’s always: “I love you, how’s it going, you good?”

Good guys

Long-distance love

Protect yourself

My mother’s diabetes and other underlying chronic conditions led to her death, so I prioritize my health and try to get good information out there, particularly on RSV [respiratory syncytial virus]. Every year, 177,000 adults aged 65 and older are hospitalized because of severe RSV, resulting in about 14,000 deaths. It can affect infants, babies and the elderly — the vulnerable. It’s very contagious, and there is no cure, but the solution is simple: prevention.

Just … breathe

When you’re feeling unmoored and completely overwhelmed — be still. Truly, just be still and breathe. Just be quiet, take it in, surround yourself with the comfort of loved ones and a support system. Think of the small things you’re grateful for.

An older parent

I’m an old mama now [to twins: daughter Bronwyn and son Slater, both 19]. I pursued a career, and it never seemed the perfect time to stop and have a kid. I got married and went straight into How Stella Got Her Groove Back, and then I had all these opportunities. But as a more mature mother, I think I’ve had a lot more patience. I could see what was happening and be calm, thoughtful and intentional.

Working mom

I’m gone a lot, and sometimes I have that mother guilt. Like: I’m in this house with you, but I left at 4 a.m. and didn’t get back until after you were asleep. There are days when we’re under the same roof and I haven’t laid eyes on them. But I believe it’s the quality of the time you do have together that’s most important.

Age is irrelevant

I don’t allow age to impose limits on me. Half the time, I forget how old I am! Just keep putting one foot in front of the other, keep embracing life and know that the best is yet to come.

%{postComment}%

Claire McIntosh is the editor in chief of Sisters From AARP and a senior editor at AARP the Magazine.

Natasha Stoynoff is an award-winning journalist and New York Times best-selling coauthor of 15 books who frequently writes about celebrities and culture for AARP The Magazine. Her most recent book is Bones: Anorexia, Anxiety, and My Path to Self-Love, with Robyn Shumer.