The 2023 Academy Awards brought a lot of surprises, but probably none more than Angela Bassett getting shunned for the Best Supporting Actress category in favor of Jamie Lee Curtis. Bassett was nominated for Black Panther 2 while Jamie Lee Curtis was nominated for Everything Everywhere All at Once. Many fans were not happy with the results and took to social media to voice their sadness and anger. However, Bassett is familiar with such upsets and knows how to deal with them.
Angela Bassett Loses Her Oscar To Jamie Lee Curtis
When the category of Best Supporting Actress was presented at the 2023 Oscars ceremony, everyone was in shock. Angela Bassett and Stephanie Hsu were the favorites to win for Black Panther 2 and Everything Everywhere All at Once respectively. But Jamie Lee Curtis won the golden statue in this category. When Curtis was announced as the winner, Bassett looked upset.
While some fans understood her sadness, others were less sympathetic and said that the veteran actress should have smiled at her opponent’s win. Whichever side one might choose, it can’t be denied that it was a great upset. Many MCU fans thought that Bassett was never going to bag the award for a Marvel film because the Academy allegedly hates superhero films and won’t award them in any of the big categories.
However, this isn’t the first upset for Angela Bassett. She was nominated in the Best Actress category at the 1994 Academy Awards for What’s Love Got to Do with It (1993) and lost it too.
Angela Bassett’s First Oscar Upset
In the 1993 film What’s Love Got to Do with It, Angela Bassett played Tina Turner. In 2021, during an interview with PEOPLE’s podcast, “People Every Day,” the actress talked about her iconic role. She said:
“Definitely nothing has been as difficult as Tina Turner. Nothing as difficult physically, emotionally, spiritually, vocally. Nothing, absolutely nothing.”
During a March 2023 interview with CBS Mornings, she was asked about the 1994 Oscars upset, Bassett said that she didn’t think that she was robbed. As per the actress:
“Of course, in the moment you’re hoping and praying and wishing [you’ll win]. But I never – I don’t walk away thinking ‘I’ve been robbed.’ That’s too negative of an emotion to carry with me for the rest of my life. I choose to believe there was a reason why it didn’t happen.”
Even though Bassett missed out on an Oscar in 1994, she bagged the Golden Globe award for Best Actress in a musical or comedy. However, almost two decades and a vast filmography later, it must be difficult for the actress to process such a momentous loss again even after winning the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress. Bassett hasn’t commented on her current loss yet.
Source: CBS Mornings
