Angela Bassett Reflects on Reaction to Losing 2023 Oscar, Says She “Put in the Time” and “Good Work”
Angela Bassett is looking back on the “interesting” reaction to her disappointment in losing the 2023 Oscar to Jamie Lee Curtis.
In an interview with Town and Country, the actress further addressed not winning the best supporting actress Oscar in 2023, which she was nominated for for her role in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The nomination marked her second after being nominated for best actress for What’s Love Got to Do With It in 1994.
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“I found it interesting,” she said when looking back at the loss. “Interesting that I wouldn’t be allowed to be disappointed at an outcome where I thought I was deserving.”
Bassett was nominated for her role as Queen Ramonda, while Curtis was nominated and won for her role as IRS agent Deirdre Beaubeirdre in Everything Everywhere All at Once.
At the time, audience members were quick to point the look of disappointment on Bassett’s face when Curtis’ name was called. Her despondent facial reaction even became a meme online.
“I love applauding people. But in that moment …” Bassett began saying before, according to the outlet, she “trails off” and “talks about how she had thought she had put in the work to be recognized” before correcting herself.
“No, I have put in: put in the time, put in good work over time. I didn’t think that was a gift. I thought it was a given.”
The comments are not the first time the Zero Day star has been candid about her feelings on not winning the Oscar. While sitting down with Oprah Winfrey in 2024 for an interview, Bassett said despite any criticism she thought she handled the loss “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,” she explained at the time. “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.”
Despite losing the supporting actress Oscar that year, the following year the Academy bestowed Bassett an honorary Oscar at the Governor Awards.
“I worked hard to get to this place, so I know it’s not a gift. I know that I earned it because I worked hard for it,” Bassett told Winfrey at the time of the honorary Oscar.
Bassett next stars alongside Robert De Niro in Netflix’s political thriller Zero Day.
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