NAACP IMAGE AWARD NOMINEES: Angela Bassett on Power, Purpose and ‘Zero Day’ (March 2025)

Summary

Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist

Angela Bassett on Power, Purpose and ‘Zero Day’

Episode Date: February 27, 2026
Podcast Description: In this episode, Willie Geist sits down with iconic actress Angela Bassett, NAACP Image Award nominee and star of the new Netflix series Zero Day. They discuss her role as President in the series, her incredible Hollywood journey, and the profound impact of representation and storytelling throughout her career.

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Episode Overview

Willie and Angela dive deep into her new thriller series Zero Day, where she plays the President during a catastrophic cyberattack, working alongside Robert De Niro. The conversation then traces Angela’s journey from her teenage years in Florida to her watershed roles in Boyz n the Hood, What’s Love Got to Do With It, and Black Panther. Bassett reflects on the challenges faced as a Black actress in Hollywood, the importance of meaningful representation, and the people who inspired and supported her along the way.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Zero Day: The Weight of the Presidency

• Premise & Casting: Angela stars as the President in a six-part Netflix thriller about a nationwide cyberattack. Robert De Niro plays a former President called to help.
• Accepting the Role:
  • “Absolutely. You know it’s an offer I could absolutely could not...say no to.” (04:21, Angela Bassett)
  • Worked with director Lesli Linka Glatter (“Homeland”), reuniting after many years.
• Depicting a Leader in Crisis:
  • “It just felt like this fine line that you have to walk...of needing a great deal of counsel...you have to keep others, you know, instill confidence.” (04:57-05:23)

2. Portraying Power and Humanity

• Typecasting Into Authority:
  • “I guess I come across as, you know, someone with authority or assurance or presence...But we as the audience have to feel that...there’s more to her than just the words she’s saying right now.” (05:35-06:29)
• Challenge in Humanizing Roles:
  • The importance of adding layers and “life behind the eyes” even when the script doesn’t provide backstory.

3. Zero Day's Real-World Resonance

• Plot Tensions: Cyberattack affects the entire United States, creating chaos and uncertainty with a mysterious, ominous message. (06:38-07:04)
• Relevance and Anxiety:
  • “As we sat around during the read-through and we were talking...at some point for me it was like, okay, stop. Sure, I’m going to get up, I’m going to leave right now.” (07:40-08:05)

4. The Appeal of the Limited Series Format

• Cinematic Scale in Episodic TV:
  • “It’s almost too beautiful and big and cinematic a story for my little television...I like having the opportunity...to really impact the story slowly. Nothing’s rushed.” (08:36-09:35)
• Ensemble Strength: Multiple characters, each with compelling motivation and depth, keep the story dynamic.

5. Working with Robert De Niro

• Mutual Respect and Growth:
  • “Still a little bit of nerves because...the legend and the man. But he was just as generous on screen, off screen, warm, engaging, curious.” (09:50-09:59, Angela)
• Long-standing Relationship:
  • “I’ve come along since then...it was great to meet as sitting and former president was like, whoo.” (10:28)
• Memorable Moment:
  • “I told him yesterday, ‘Thanks for bringing me along on this journey’...to get to do it again...” (10:36-10:49)

6. Angela’s Acting Origins and Yale Years

• First Spark:
  • At 15, moved by live theater (“Of Mice and Men”), she wanted to move audiences herself.
  • “If I could make people feel as bad as I am right now, how would that be?” (15:41)
• DIY Drama in High School:
  • When her school didn’t have plays, she initiated scene nights to perform, debuting as “Mama” in A Raisin in the Sun. (16:14)
• Finding a Tribe at Yale:
  • “You had all this opportunity...other students who were like theater geeks...you found a tribe.” (17:58)
• Influential Mentor: Lloyd Richards:
  • “He was always such a...point of inspiration for me.” (18:58)
  • Teaching style: “Angela, up. Don’t wave the rubber chicken.” (19:35, meaning don’t overact.)

7. Breaking into Hollywood: Grit & Sacrifice

• NYC Hustle and “Second Acting” (sneaking into theaters for second acts):
  • “You don’t know what the first act was, but...everybody’s on fire.” (21:11)
• Migration to LA:
  • “I thought, well, they don’t know I’m here...So I’ve got to go to them, introduce myself.” (23:03)
  • Letting go of cherished things (like her $215 rent-controlled apartment) to chase opportunity.
• Practical Wisdom from Uncle Charles:
  • “‘Baby, you don’t get off a winning horse.’...And I’ve been there 30 something years.” (24:58-25:28)

8. Breakthrough Roles & Hollywood Realities

• Boyz n the Hood (1991):
  • First big movie, thanks to John Singleton ignoring industry typecasting.
  • “He said, ‘You’re my mother.’...He was just a thoughtful, warm soul, funny guy.” (26:27)
• What’s Love Got to Do With It (1993):
  • True breakthrough; Oscar and Golden Globe winner.
  • “When ‘What’s Love’ happened, it changed everything.” (28:11-28:38)
• Hollywood Doors Didn’t Instantly Open:
  • “You would have thought like the world is yours after a performance like that. But that wasn’t necessarily the case, is that right?” (31:12, Willie)
  • Angela: “Not necessarily...what stories were being told, and did those stories include, you know, a brown skinned girl or a woman, young woman at that time...” (31:29)
• The Rise of Diverse Stories:
  • “A tide began to turn...a lot of stories, whether it was Tina, then...Rosa Parks or Coretta Scott King...families where yes, they needed a mother, they needed someone who looked like me.” (32:07)

9. Explosive Success in the Late 90s and 2000s

• How Stella Got Her Groove Back, Terry McMillan Era:
  • “I remember riding on the subway in New York City and literally seeing everyone with her book, Waiting to Exhale...I said, that’s going to be successful.” (33:00)
• On Success & Gratification:
  • “Here’s the opportunity. You don’t know if it’s going to be successful or not...It takes so many moving parts. It’s amazing that any film works.” (33:17-33:34)

10. Black Panther & Cultural Impact

• International Influence:
  • “You make $1.3 billion...I think somebody’s watching you.” (34:20)
  • “It’s been rewarding to be around during that change. The stories are vast. Stories are diverse...It’s all about illuminating this human experience that we’re having.” (34:52)
• Fan Fervor:
  • “That was literally the first time I’ve, you know, gotten stuck on the computer looking at, you know, fans of the series and their reaction...They would run into walls in their bedrooms.” (35:41-36:05)
  • “Sometimes you can’t make sense of magic.” (36:45)
• On Chadwick Boseman:
  • “I’m so blessed I got an opportunity to meet him and to work with him. He is such a soulful human being, so caring and so wise and so in tune with who he is and so grateful for others.” (37:23)

11. Legacy and Gratitude

• Full-Circle Moments:
  • Angela’s story about being escorted at Howard by Chadwick Boseman years before working with him, and meeting Cicely Tyson on set (“She was my shero”).
• On Staying Grounded:
  • “I do [have pinch-me moments] every day. Every day that I show up at set...I think it’s important to remember where you came from. It really fosters a sense of gratitude…” (41:54)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Angela’s Philosophy on Gratitude:
  • “If you can remain grateful, you can appreciate what others have to contribute.” (42:45)
• On Perseverance:
  • “‘You don’t get off a winning horse.’...And I’ve been there 30 something years.” (24:58)
• On Progress:
  • “It’s all about illuminating this human experience that we’re having.” (34:52)
• Industry Wisdom:
  • “Sometimes you can’t make sense of magic.” (36:45)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Zero Day and Authority in Roles: 04:00 – 08:36
• Working with Robert De Niro: 09:36 – 11:52
• Early Artistic Inspiration and Yale: 14:38 – 19:20
• Struggles and Breakthrough in Hollywood: 22:53 – 28:38
• Hollywood’s Slow Shift on Representation: 31:12 – 32:33
• The “Stella” & “Black Panther” Era: 33:10 – 35:28
• Fan Impact and Working with Chadwick Boseman: 35:41 – 37:54
• On Gratitude and Reflection: 41:32 – 42:45

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Episode Tone

This conversation was heartfelt, wise, and conversational—mixing nostalgia and pride with humility and a constant sense of purpose. Angela Bassett’s warmth, humor, and candor came through in every story, matched by Willie’s respect and enthusiasm for his guest.

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Useful For

This summary is a comprehensive briefing for listeners who want to understand Angela Bassett’s journey from inspired teenager to iconic performer, the significance of her varied roles, her approach to leadership onscreen, and her legacy as a trailblazer for diversity and excellence in Hollywood.

Transcript

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[Willie Geist]

Foreign. Hey guys, Willie Geist here with another episode of the Sunday Sit down podcast. My thanks as always for clicking and listening along. I am so excited to bring you my conversation today with one of my favorite actresses and one of the most accomplished actresses in all of Hollywood. She is the great Angela Bassett. She's starring as the President of the United States in the buzzed about new Netflix series Zero Day stars Robert Dairo. It follows the aftermath of a massive devastating cyber attack in the United States and what would happen if something like that took place now. So she plays the sitting President of the United States when this happens and she calls in a former President of the United States, Robert De Niro, to lead the investigation. Super gripping six part series. De Niro's first ever series that he's participated in. Great cast. Jesse Plemons is in it. Connie Britton's in it. Has a really, really good cast and a great kind of gripping storyline. So we get into that and we get into her backstory. She was raised in St. Petersburg, Florida. Superstar, straight A student, student government, drama club cheerleader. She did it all went on to Yale where she got her undergraduate degree and then her Master's in Fine Arts from the famed School of Drama where she also by the way met her husb. The actor Courtney B. Vance started on the stages of New York before moving west to Hollywood. My favorite movie of all time, or maybe one of them is Boyz n the Hood. She Played the mother of Trey, who was played by Cuba Gooding Jr. In the movie. I loved her in that so much. It was the first time I noticed her and she says it was really her first big role and then they started to come from that. Breakout is 1993. She plays Tina Turner in what's Love Got to Do With It. But interesting to hear discussed that that didn't necessarily necessarily open all the doors of Hollywood for her, despite the fact she won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Oscar.

You'll hear her talk about it.

There just weren't parts for people like her and she gets into that. And then comes Stella Got Her Groove Back and all these movies that sort of. She plugged into had massive success and then her career went off from there. Obviously we got to talk about her playing Queen Ramonda in Black Panther and we talk about the late Chadwick Boseman,

what that was like for her as well.

You remember she was nominated for an Academy Award a coup of years ago for the sequel of Black Panther. So so much to talk about with really just so smart and so wise and so great. Excited to bring you my conversation right now with Angela Bassett on the Sunday Sit down podcast.

It's so nice to meet you, Angela. I'm such a huge fan of yours. I was just telling you, going back to Boyz N The hood in 91, all the way to this incredible new series. So thank you for doing this.

[Angela Bassett]

Thank you. You're welcome.

[Willie Geist]

So let's start at the end of that timeline with this unbelievable new Netflix series called Zero Day which centers around a cyber attack in the United States. You play the President of the United States in the series. When you heard the premise and you heard Robert De Niro is in it, was it an easy yes for you?

[Angela Bassett]

Absolutely. You know it had. It's an offer I could absolutely could not, could not say no to. And and as well the director Leslie Linker Glatter who's you know, we know her work from Homeland and other things and she's. I worked with her years ago as on a show called er.

[Willie Geist]

Yes, I've heard of it.

[Angela Bassett]

Yes.

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

So she's wonderful.

[Angela Bassett]

Get an opportunity to work with her with Robert on this incredibly well written six part series as President. Oh my.

[Willie Geist]

So what do you think when they say and you're going to be President of the United States?

[Angela Bassett]

Oh Lord. Well, this is a role I've never done taken on before. You think it would be easy, but not quite. It just felt like this fine line that you have to walk of, you know, of being calm, of not in the face of not knowing a lot, of needing great deal of counsel. I mean, because you have to keep others, you know, instill confidence in others that will make it through whatever the catastrophe or the danger is.

[Willie Geist]

You've played so many powerful, authoritative women, whether it's a queen or the head of the CIA or the director of the Secret Service. Is that a kind of role that you like to step into?

[Angela Bassett]

You know, it just at some point began to happen that I guess I come across as, you know, someone with authority or assurance or presence, you know, or grounded. And it began to happen sometimes these roles, you know, early on when it started. Sometimes there's not a lot of their backstory, their history. Do they have a family, do they have children, go to school, you know, you know, what are the issues that they're dealing with. But I was, you know, to be able to. You want to put someone in there that is like, oh, there's something going on behind the eyes. There is a life. She knows more than I know, you know, so it's. It's sort of like it's unscripted or unwritten. But we as the audience have to feel that, yes, you know, there's. There's more to her than just the words she's saying right now.

[Willie Geist]

You can see the humanity in her as the show plays out. So I mentioned that this is about a cyber attack, without giving too much away.

[Angela Bassett]

Attack that takes place across the whole of the. Of the nation of the United states simultaneously for 60, you know, for a straight hour, causes so much death, you know, so many fatalities, so much chaos, mayhem, there's uncertainty. And then on the phone, there's a message that everyone receives that's mysterious and

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

it's sort of foreboding as well, because

[Angela Bassett]

now we know that it's intentional. I mean, we really. We're being told that, yes, you were targeted. Absolutely.

[Willie Geist]

Part of the reason I think it works too, and it's so unsettling is because it does feel like something, I hate to say that could happen. Right. I mean, there's. There's some. We hear about cyber attacks and all the, the ways that cyber is being used in terms of warfare. Do you think, as you.

[Angela Bassett]

A lot of time in Situation Room?

[Willie Geist]

I guess, yes. As you read this script, did you sort of the real world implications of our lives being so connected to tech?

[Angela Bassett]

I would for a moment, and then I get a lot of anxiety.

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

My solar plexus.

[Angela Bassett]

But yeah, especially as we sat around during the read through and we were talking about it and our writers, Nora Oppenheim and Eric Newman are very smart guys. I mean, at least they present it to you with a bit of a wink, a smile and assurance. But it's like at some point for

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

me, it was like, okay, stop. Sure, I'm going to get up, I'm going to leave right now.

[Willie Geist]

Yeah. It just doesn't seem that outlandish. I can see how we could get to this terrifying place.

[Angela Bassett]

We have so much dependence, you know, on our technology.

[Willie Geist]

I'm curious, given all the amazing jobs you've had and the movies you've done and your successful TV series, do you like this format, which is six episodes? It's a series, but it has a cinematic quality. It feels like six movies. Do you like, enjoy this?

[Angela Bassett]

Absolutely. I was talking to one of the, to the, one of our cast members last night, was saying it's almost too beautiful and big and cinematic a story

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

for my little television.

[Angela Bassett]

So I was happy to be able to see it on a big screen. As big a screen as possible. It is. And I like having the opportunity over the course of six episodes to really impact the story slowly. Nothing's rushed because sometimes, you know, if you're within okay in the first act, this has to happen second act, third resolve for that conclusion, you know, so it takes us time, takes more time to unpack and get to know the characters. And there's so many interesting characters, you know, within the series and they all have their, their motives and their intentions and their, their story. So you're like, do I follow this guy? Yeah, yeah, he's my guy. Wait a minute. But they're all making great and, you know, great substantial points that make sense.

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[Angela Bassett]

Until they don't.

[Willie Geist]

Right, right. It all fits into that matrix. You have worked with Robert before, but what was it like at this stage of both of your careers? Just such well regarded actors. What was it like to work with him?

[Angela Bassett]

Oh, it was wonderful. You know, still a little bit of nerves because. The legend and the man.

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

Exactly.

[Angela Bassett]

But he was just as generous on screen, off screen, warm, engaging, curious, you know, in terms of, you know, working on the scene, working through the scene. But it was, it was amazing. And you know, so I've, I've come along since then being the young actor 25 years ago. You know, I've been making my little steps on this journey. So it was great to meet as sitting and former president was like, whoo.

[Willie Geist]

And he has said such great things about working with you too, which must be so gratifying it is to have reached that point where he's honored to be sharing scenes with you as well.

[Angela Bassett]

You know, told him yesterday. Thanks. Thanks for bringing me along in this journey because I worked with him once. I mean, that's a dream come true, right, for any of us actors, but

[Willie Geist]

twice to get to do it again.

[Angela Bassett]

Yeah, yeah. A bit of favor is the.

[Willie Geist]

You mentioned you like the format. I think De Niro said this project was like swimming the English Channel, which is. It was a big achievement, but it is like kind of six movies and he's used to just doing his film and that's it.

[Angela Bassett]

Yeah, this is his first grueling in some ways.

[Willie Geist]

And were you able to help them through it or share any advice?

[Angela Bassett]

You know, I think Leslie our, our director and you know, everyone, the whole crew, we, we really took our time with it. You know, I do a 18 episode

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

series and we really go at it, at it. Maybe we get, you know, four days Thanksgiving off, a little bit of Christmas,

[Angela Bassett]

but we continually go at it and sometimes if it's. If it's all you. And some episodes are, you know, you know, demand my character to be there every day. You feel it in your bones by the end of seven days. But we really took our time with this and didn't rush it to that degree, but over, over six months. So I guess it was like six separate movies for him.

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

No matter what I'm trying to say, you know, we brought it easy.

[Willie Geist]

But no, you're like, come work on a weekly show. I'll show you what grueling looks like. Is it gratifying, Angela, to hear these early reviews of the series that people who have had the chance to see it say, this is one of the best shows to come along in a long time. That's gotta feel great.

[Angela Bassett]

It really is. It really is. I've gotten a chance to, you know, talk with some people who've seen a number of the episodes and just their, you know, excitement, exuberance and it's.

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

And curiosity and no, I don't want to give it away, but, you know, I had such fear and anxiety and

[Angela Bassett]

you know, the heads going back to see that response. You don't get. Get that, you know, you don't get that often. So.

[Willie Geist]

Well, you all were nice enough to give me a sneak peek and I made it through four episodes and there are six. And I have to say, I don't want to. I love my daughter, but I was like, oh, do I have to go to her basketball game? I really would like to finish this show. I did go to the basketball game, so I have two waiting for me on the other side of this. So congratulations on it.

[Angela Bassett]

Thank you.

[Willie Geist]

Hey guys, thanks for listening to the Sunday Sit down podcast. Stick around to hear more from Angela Bassett right after the break.

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[Willie Geist]

Welcome back. Now, more of my conversation with Angela Bassett.

Wanted to ask you also, just people love you so much about like the foundation and the the roots of your acting career, which is you were born in New York, didn't live here very long, moved to North Carolina for a short spell, then to Florida. So at what point, Angela, does performance and acting come into your life?

[Angela Bassett]

Oh yeah. As a little 15 year old girl who was writing in her diary every day, you know, attempting to express herself because no one understands, especially parents.

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

We know that, you know, and parents,

[Angela Bassett]

teachers, you know, whatever's going on in the world. And I had an opportunity through this program that I was involved in to go to the theater, to the Osolo Theater in Sarasota, Florida, to the Kennedy center when we would have, you know, when they had the national meetings of this group called Upward Bound. And it was there that I sat in the audience and saw this phenomenal performance of Mice and Men. And I was so moved by it at the end that I was literally the only person sitting in the theater

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

weeping, crying, as the ushers are cleaning up programs. And I was like, I feel terrible. If I could make people feel as bad as I am right now, how. How would that be? And so returned home and just started trying to do that. What I saw, you know, recreate what I saw on the stage. And, you know, my, my, my school had a, a drama program that didn't do any theater, any drama, any plays. We didn't have, I guess, the, the

[Angela Bassett]

structure to do it. But I, I said, well, we can do scenes, right? Maybe everyone just go and find a scene and we're supposed to string it together and we can have a night of something. Great Grandmother and borrowed one of her, her dresses, and I did a Raisin in the sun, you know, mama. And the, the audience, you know, applause and oohs and ahs. It was like, it sort of scares you for a moment, like. And I said, well, let me continue. I felt so. I was nerve wracked, but it felt great at the end when you heard the applause. And I, I kept at it, even going on to college. And I remember one of my teachers said, oh, you got it to Yale, Angela. They really know that the theater programs. And I had no idea. But he didn't mean undergrad, because that theater studies program literally began the day

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

I stepped on the theater.

[Willie Geist]

Is that right?

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

It was the graduate school.

[Angela Bassett]

So I had my eye on there because I just wanted to get all the technique that I could, because I knew nothing except how I felt when I watch theater or when I'm on the stage.

[Willie Geist]

And you're a star high school student, right? I mean, you're in theater, in the choir, but also student government and a cheerleader and all.

[Angela Bassett]

One of those people, all of that, right?

[Willie Geist]

No, but it's so interesting. I mean, you, you got into and attended Yale without theater in the back of your mind, so that was just purely academic for you. And then almost accidentally, I just happened

[Angela Bassett]

to be in the right place.

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

Yes.

[Angela Bassett]

Wow.

[Willie Geist]

Wow.

[Angela Bassett]

Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

And so what did you find up there that really allowed you to sort of, sort of elevate your interest and love for production and theater and, and the things exciting.

[Angela Bassett]

It was just an exciting moment and time. I was an undergrad and they have the, you know, different houses. And each house had its own stage, you know, a little stage. So you had all of this opportunity, and there were other students who were like theater geeks. You found. You found a tribe. And it's like. Like, these are some interesting people and they have fun and. And I have fun with them. And, you know, and who knows, I was able to soak up a lot of that. They've been doing it much longer than I had. But also, when it was time to apply to graduate school. Wonderful, wonderful man. Lloyd Richards, who directed the first, directed Raising in the sun on Broadway, first African American play on Broadway by Lorraine Hansberry, was the director of the school, became the director of the school. And I was a part of his first class. And so he was always such an, you know, a point of inspiration for me. Even just walking by his plate glass window, seeing him behind the desk, because I was too nervous to say, hi, Lloyd, like everyone else. It was like Mr. Richards or hello or nothing. But he was such a supporter of mine and, And. And I just found such inspiration in the history. As I began to learn the history of theater and acting, just got more involved in it.

[Willie Geist]

It's funny, almost every successful performer I talk to has someone like that in their story, which is a teacher, whether it was in third grade or in college, who says, hang on a second, you're really good at this. Keep going. So I love hearing those stories. So when you get out of Yale,

[Angela Bassett]

and he would say, angela, up. Don't wave the rubber chicken.

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

It's like, oh.

[Angela Bassett]

Oh.

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

I think I. Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

What did you take that to mean?

[Angela Bassett]

Well, you know, you can't. They're. They're. You know, in the course of acting, acting a scene, sometimes you can telegraph what you're feeling.

[Willie Geist]

Right.

[Angela Bassett]

Basically overact.

[Willie Geist]

Good advice.

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

Yes.

[Angela Bassett]

And that's all he would say. He would say things like that. That's the way he would direct. And you would have to take it in and consider it. It's not going to lay it all out. You know, you finish a scene, you say, so would you think. And you would have to think. And maybe sometimes you'd be more critical of yourself than someone telling you what they saw or did not see.

[Willie Geist]

Right.

[Angela Bassett]

You could. You were. I guess, in a way, you know, it's. It's really sinking in what you did, because you have to. To express it or find it. You rarely said, oh, it's perfect.

[Willie Geist]

Yeah.

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

You never said that.

[Willie Geist]

Right.

[Angela Bassett]

Because it never is right. It's always striving right.

[Willie Geist]

Get better every time out. Right.

[Angela Bassett]

You Know what I know?

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

Yeah, that's right. I mean, the early years of after school, coming to New York and going out to LA a little bit, you know, for people who see you now, they know it wasn't all red carpets and glamour at the beginning. It's a grind. Right. So were you ever just in New

[Angela Bassett]

York in those early years, stand outside of the theaters? You know, you wait for people to come out, they drop a program, you

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

get the program, you go in, you

[Angela Bassett]

don't know what the first act was,

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

but that second act, everybody's on fire. So, you know, that's how you use those soft theater in those days called second acting.

[Willie Geist]

Right.

[Angela Bassett]

Enjoyed that.

[Willie Geist]

Good tip.

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

Yeah.

[Angela Bassett]

But you're in New York. You're doing, I would call it off off Broadway. No pay showcase.

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

You know, you were almost in New Jersey. You were so far off Broadway, on the Avenues.

[Angela Bassett]

But it was, you know, you're doing we's Antigone. You know, it's. It's thrilling. You know, it's thrilling. You do it anywhere. You do it. You do it for free. You hope not for long, but in those early days, you $12. You like, you know.

[Willie Geist]

Sure.

[Angela Bassett]

Yeah, you're doing it. Subway tokens gassed.

[Willie Geist]

Yeah. So what was the first job, Angela, where you felt like, okay, maybe not I've made it yet, but this is going to be my career.

[Angela Bassett]

You know, it's funny. Every job felt like I made it. If you were Cat, Even if it was off off Broadway, no pay showcase, but as Antigone and Antigone, I made it some. You know, I got cast in that role. So it's wonderful. It's work every day. Exciting work with. With exciting collaborators and creative people.

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

Wherever it was, you know, whether it was uptown in the church basement at the Y, a little theater way on 12th Avenue.

[Angela Bassett]

Every job, every role, every opportunity, you know, to. To work, work, to work at the craft, to develop a character. It just. Just opened my eyes in my heart even more.

[Willie Geist]

And then Hollywood calls with a movie.

[Angela Bassett]

Well, Hollywood. Hollywood didn't call.

[Willie Geist]

No.

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

Someone called to go and knock a hole. Okay. You know, you were.

[Willie Geist]

You called Hollywood.

[Angela Bassett]

It was during that time where it seemed like a lot of. A lot of actors in New York, they were heading out, heading west, going to Hollywood. And a lot of. And some actors said, well, I'm not going to Hollywood. They're going to have to come and find me. And I thought, well, they don't know I'm here. And by the time the role that I would be offered is you know, is up on the boards. They can cast it with someone that's already in Hollywood. So I've got to go, I've got to go to them, introduce myself. And that's what I decided to do. Okay. Had a great apartment, you know, rent control apartment. It was hard to come $215. You know, you weren't trying to lose that. You're trying to hang on to that. But sometimes you can't hang onto something that's. And yet go for something that's better. You gotta let that go so that you'll be available for the next opportunity. So I went out there, I went out there, I said, okay, six months. I'm gonna give it six months. This pilot season where all the new shows and maybe I'll get lucky with one of them. Well, they cancel pilot season that year.

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

Oh, you know, there's always sometimes, you

[Angela Bassett]

know, strikes and moments occur. So timing is everything. But I did stick around for six months and began to, to guest, you know, get, you know, generate some excitement, a new face, new energy I think coming into the room that they hadn't seen. And I was fortunate enough to get some of these, you know, get, get my share of some of these jobs. And six months, my six month period came up and I remember calling my, my great uncle in New York and Uncle Charles and I said, honk. I mean, I'm working. I mean each week I get a new guest star. Have only three stations, so there's a finite number.

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

It's going to run out at some point.

[Angela Bassett]

We didn't have, we didn't have all

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

this Netflix, Hulu, have all the opp. Opportunity that we have now to catch

[Angela Bassett]

the middle of everything. But I said a, it's, it's six months. I got to come back to my, my apartment, my everything. He said, like Lloyd Richards, you know those succinct phrases. You said, baby, you don't get off a winning horse. I said, got it hung up. And I've been there 30 something years.

[Willie Geist]

So he gets an assist for all that's happened since then.

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

You did the work, my dear uncle. Don't get off a winning horse.

[Willie Geist]

That is a great line.

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

And I was, yeah, I got to come back to my apartment, my life. I'm, I'm from New York.

[Angela Bassett]

Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

And he was right.

[Angela Bassett]

And he was absolutely right.

[Willie Geist]

He was right. So Boys n the Hood comes along soon after that, a couple years later. When John Singleton puts that together, it's,

[Angela Bassett]

let's see, Boys in the hood came out 91, 91 okay. I went to LA in 88. Okay, October 10, 1988. I don't remember many dates, but for some reason I remember that one. It was monumental. So I go there, like I said, I'm doing lots of, you know, you know, day player here, a guest spot here, small row there, but no film. And I get a call finally, because at that time we were actors, were segment. If you were a television actor, you're doing television and you know, casting for films, they sort of wouldn't see you, see you, take you that seriously for that. I guess they, you know, familiarity breeds

[Willie Geist]

what

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

you're too familiar.

[Angela Bassett]

I don't know the thinking, but I wonder if that played something. If you could see someone every week, if you wanted to really go out to the theater and paid to see them. But a young director, John singleton, who was 19, just recently out of USC with this fabulous script, Boys in the Hood, he did see me. You didn't have those preconceived notions about actors doing this, that and the other. And so I went in and the rapport was immediate and warm. And he said, you're my mother. We talked about poets that we, that we enjoyed in common. He was just a thoughtful, warm soul, funny guy. And you felt. I felt very maternal toward him in a way. Well, yeah, toward you as well, toward many.

[Willie Geist]

But for a 19 year old to put together a cast of you and Laurence Fishburne and Ice Cube and Cuba Gooding Jr. That's gone on to become

[Angela Bassett]

this classic movie and Tyra Farrell. Exactly.

[Willie Geist]

Exactly. Incredible that he assembled and made that movie. I think it's fair to say, and you'll correct me if I'm wrong, that what's love got to do with it was the. She's here now, right?

[Angela Bassett]

Because up to that point, if I was in. In something, I would, you know, go to Kinko's. We don't have Kinko's anymore, do we? Go to Kinko's. Get a. Get a cardboard. Hi. Hi, family. Hi, friends.

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

I'm going to be on cbs, abc, NBC on this night. At this time in this show, I

[Angela Bassett]

would cut it in fours and then I put your name and a st. And I mail it.

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

Mail it out to my friends so

[Angela Bassett]

they wouldn't miss it, right? And maybe I should do that today. And, and people would. So if you knew me and I

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

sent you a, you know, little, you know, mailer, then you.

[Angela Bassett]

Then you knew me, but you couldn't put the. I would think the, the name with the face. But when once love happened, then you know, before then. But you look a little familiar. Do you? But when once love happened, it's so of it changed everything. Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

Because you're a leading actor and it was such a powerful performance. People said, who was that? Right.

[Angela Bassett]

If you didn't know me, you certainly knew her. Yeah, people knew her. All kinds of people knew her and were interested in her as a performer, had seen her. And here's a story about her life and this is the life. It was so different from what anyone could have expected. So it really was quite a breakthrough in a seminal moment for me, for my career, for the culture, for people who are experiencing those same sort of things in their life. And it was could have for some many a turning point, a wake up call, you know, an opportunity to say, no, this is what I want. So it was sort of all came together.

[Willie Geist]

Stick around for more of my conversation with Angela Bassett right after a quick break.

[Angela Bassett]

The greatest to ever play the game return to finish what they started.

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

Welcome to Survivor 50.

[Willie Geist]

I wanted one more shot to play the game that I fell in love with 25 years ago.

[Angela Bassett]

I want to win against the best of the best. I chickened out at the final tribal season 50. It's an honor. Light your torch. I've got some unfinished business. Be part of history. I have more to play for. This time bigger than ever. Survivor 50 new CBS Wednesday at 8,

[Willie Geist]

7 Central and streaming on Paramount.

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[Willie Geist]

Welcome back now to the rest of my conversation with Angela Bassett.

It was a Breakthrough. Obviously you get the awards and the recognition that you deserved for it. But I was interested to read that you said it wasn't like the phone was ringing off the hook after that necessarily. In other words, you would have thought like the world is yours after a performance like that. But that wasn't necessarily the case, is that right?

[Angela Bassett]

Not necessarily. You know, because also you have to think or remember that during that time what, what stories were being told and did those stories include, you know, a brown skinned girl or a woman, young woman at that time was cast and going to be colorblind. You know, certainly an actor can do a role, but those, if I'm a part of a family, you know, there's other considerations, you know, and it. But then a tide began to turn and we began to have a lot of stories, whether it was Tina, then it was Rosa Parks or Coretta Scott King, incredible Women or even the Jacksons, you know, so families where, yes, they needed a mother, they needed a mother, they needed someone who looked like me. So timing is everything. And stories, diverse stories were beginning to be told and, and I was born at the right time to be available for those.

[Willie Geist]

And among those was this explosion of successful movies like How Stella Got Her Groove Back and movies that you starred in with.

[Angela Bassett]

That's right, certain books were, yeah, Terry McMillan came on the scene with Waiting to Exhale and now Stella Got Her Groove Back invis. And so, you know, you're looking, that's what you need. A great script and a lot of times from great books. So that was. I remember riding on the subway in New York City and literally seeing everyone

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

with her book, waiting to excel, reading her book.

[Angela Bassett]

And I said, that's going to be successful. I think that one's going to work.

[Willie Geist]

Did that feel to you like finally, like, here are the roles that we've been waiting for and gratifying that they were so successful.

[Angela Bassett]

Here's the opportunity. Here's the opportunity. You don't know if it's going to be successful or not. You certainly, you know, go in, you know, with that idea, with that plan. But it takes so many moving parts. It's amazing that any film works.

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

You know, it's like this, or big, organized, exciting chaos.

[Angela Bassett]

But yeah, great care, great people, people doing what they do in their lane.

[Willie Geist]

I promise I'm not walking through every move in your career. You're like, what time is it? But I do want to ask you about Black Panther and Wakanda Forever and talk about movies that cut across lines. If you make $1.3 billion with an opening movie that's different than people have seen.

[Angela Bassett]

You've done something they can't say. What used to be, say a long time ago that movies about. About black characters don't translate across seas. You know, internationally, it was like, you make 1.3 billion.

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

I think somebody's watching you.

[Willie Geist]

Yes.

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

Yeah, you got a lot of eyes,

[Angela Bassett]

so that's satisfying to see just through the journey, you know. Okay. You know, movies don't translate, but, like, to Europe and. And I feel like someone from the

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

1800s who lived to the 1900s, 100 years and was like, oh, I've seen five presidents. Oh, I remember we didn't have refrigeration. You know, we salted our pork, you know. Oh, how times have changed.

[Angela Bassett]

Yeah, they do change, and it was great. It's been rewarding to be around during that change. The stories are vast. Stories are diverse because to me, even doing this, people are interesting. You know, people are interesting. Where they come from, why they end up, how they end up, how they do, why they think, the way they think, why they fight, the way they fight. They love the way they love. You know, it's all about illuminating this human experience that we're having.

[Willie Geist]

What was it like to be in the middle of that phenomenon? As it grew and grew and grew, you knew you'd done something special, but it just became a thing unto itself. Not just here around the world. People fell in love with it.

[Angela Bassett]

It was a thing unto itself. That was literally the first time I've, you know, gotten stuck on the computer looking at, you know, fans of the series and their reaction, and they would literally cry, fall off chairs with just a little bit of. Of information with the trailer. When the trailer came out. This is not the movie.

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

The trailer's coming out. They would run into walls in their bedrooms.

[Angela Bassett]

They were.

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

Men would cry, weep. It was like, what is going on here?

[Angela Bassett]

Oh, something big's about to happen, you know, but they were. They were fans of Marvel, fans of, you know, of Black Panther. And to see that fans for a long time. And so to hear someone 4 years old to 94, literally, when I would

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

go to church and little ladies would come up to me and say, I love that Black Panther.

[Angela Bassett]

I love that movie. It was, I mean, just. Just a vast audience. You know, when we talk about our demographics. Oh, sure, 14 to this. To that. You know, we try.

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

We try to make sense of it,

[Angela Bassett]

but sometimes you can't make sense of magic.

[Willie Geist]

Sometimes a movie is so good, it blows through demographics when it's 4 to 94.

[Angela Bassett]

That's right.

[Willie Geist]

I had. Chadwick was on the show with me in the middle of all that. I think he just gotten off a plane from Seoul with all of you on a press tour, and he just sat down and said. And I felt like I was seated with him in the middle of this thing that was changing his life. Obviously, I, along with just about everybody else, didn't know what else he was going through at the time. When you look back on working with him in one of his final performances, what does it conjure for you?

[Angela Bassett]

I'm so blessed that I got an opportunity to meet him and to work with him. He is such a soulful human being, so caring and so wise and so in tune with who he is and so grateful for others. He was just as warm as you can imagine. I felt motherly toward him.

[Willie Geist]

There's a theme here. You feel motherly. Yes.

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

I want to take care. But he reminded me.

[Angela Bassett]

It was interesting. He reminded me at the opening, you know, at the party, the premiere, the party afterwards was like, oh, that. I was like, okay, bye, Chad. I'm about to leave now. He said, I just wanted to tell you when you got your honorary doctorate at Howard, which is where he went to undergrad, went to school. He said, I was your escort that weekend, during part of that weekend. And I hadn't recalled that at all. I hadn't recalled that that was first honorary doctorate I got. It was a school that I in. In. In high school. I thought it was my number one. This is where I'm going to go. I'd heard about the history of it, and I want to go there. I had gone there, you know, but I had choose. Chosen to go. Go somewhere else.

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

They gave me more scholarship, which I needed, my mother needed, But I hadn't

[Angela Bassett]

remembered that or, well, I didn't know it, you know, there's so much going on, you know, okay, this student's going to take you here and there. And I said, and here we sat. Look at you. We have sat for months next to each other in the makeup trailer. And you've never mentioned that. While we're doing the work. While we're doing the work. But now that we're at this point where we can celebrate, then. Then he brings it up. And I thought, that's so thoughtful because so many people would have done that so much earlier.

[Willie Geist]

It would have led with that.

[Angela Bassett]

Yes. Yeah, yeah. No, it's like, let's speak. Hello. Let's work.

[Willie Geist]

And what a moment for him. Him to have escorted you around not that long ago. And now he's co starring with you in this massive movie.

[Angela Bassett]

It sort of reminded me of years ago, I. When I was in la, I got in this. Well, I wasn't in LA then. I was touring with a play called Joe Turner's Coming Gone in San Diego at the Old Globe Theater. Got a call, oh, there's a movie. You know, this roles that they're casting in la. Oh, my God. So I, I go up, it's direct. During slavery time, I get me a big skirt and I go, I'm sitting on the ground. I mean, I'm, I'm.

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

I'm in the moment in the.

[Angela Bassett]

Everyone else is sitting there like, you

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

know, today's person, but I'm like, oh, somebody from, you know, 1600s.

[Angela Bassett]

And. But I remember I got the part, I got the role. We were on location. Donald Sutherland was cast in it, Natasha Richardson, Tony Todd, and my shero, Cicely Tyson. So I'm gonna meet her for the first, for the first time, you know, we have these people that we look up to who admire, who inspire us. And she certainly was that one for me, as you can imagine. And I just thought, we're all waiting and she's, she's about to arrive. And they said, oh, yes, Ms. Tyson is coming down the hallway now and at the table with everyone else. And it was just like, no, it's gotta be different. I walk in, out, I walk outside the door and I watch her walk down the hall. And she gets there and I extend my hand and say, hello, Ms. Tyson, I'm Angela Bass. It's a pleasure to meet you. And she said, thank you, darling. And then we go in the room and all that, all that nervousness, all of that is gone because it's time to work. And any of that other stuff, we can do that later. But first things first, right?

[Willie Geist]

The work that served you well over the years. Do the work.

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

He reminded me of me.

[Willie Geist]

Yeah, right, right. Came all the way back around.

[Angela Bassett's Interviewer or Commentator]

He's my brother.

[Willie Geist]

So with everything you've accomplished in your career, everything we've been talking about here this morning, do you allow yourself moments to stop and think about where you came from? The little girl singing into her hairbrush in the mirror, or seeing Of Mice and Men on stage and dreaming that it would be so amazing just to be on any stage? Do you have these pinch me moments?

[Angela Bassett]

I do every day. Every day that I show up at set and look around at all the wonderful people I get an opportunity to meet and to work with those who championed me and brought me along to play, play with them. I do. I think it's important to remember where you came from. It really fosters a sense of gratitude and I think that's an important character to be grateful for your experiences, for the highlights, for the lessons learned, for the missteps, because in those you learn as well. But it's been wonderful because we all have something to contribute and to it. If you can remain grateful, you can appreciate what others have to tribute.

[Willie Geist]

Well, you've contributed a lot, so thank you. You really have. Thank you, Angela. It's such a pleasure to meet you and talk to you.

[Angela Bassett]

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

[Willie Geist]

My big thanks again to Angela for a great conversation. You can stream Zero Day now on Netflix. And my thanks to all of you for listening again this week. If you want to hear these conversations with my guests every week, be sure to click follow so you never miss an episode. And of course, don't forget to tune in to Sunday Today every weekend on NBC to see these interviews with your own two eyes. I'm Willie Geist. We'll see you right back here next week on the Sunday Sit down podcast.

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