Angela Bassett is getting the comic book treatment as she graces the November/December cover of Essence ahead of the theatrical release of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and REVOLT is giving you the first look!
The movie, which serves as a sequel to 2018’s box-office blockbuster Black Panther, will hit the big screen on Nov. 11. In the film, Bassett portrays Wakanda’s Queen Ramonda, mother to the late Chadwick Boseman’s character, King T’Challa. Boseman passed away at the age of 43 in August 2020 following a four-year cancer battle. His role in the upcoming sequel was not recast.
As previously reported by REVOLT, the veteran actress believes the highly anticipated follow-up will top its predecessor. “It’s going to be amazing. It’s going to top [the first] one,” Bassett declared during her appearance on “The Ellen Degeneres Show” in March.
Now, as the movie nears its global debut, Bassett opened up even more about the task of dealing with the absence of Boseman’s Black Panther.
“There are these two things that we were dealing with: The loss of our leader and trying to meet the expectations of an audience. The mantle is monumental, but it’s not so heavy that we can’t accomplish what we all gathered together to do,” she told Essence.
Check out Bassett’s Black Panther-inspired cover for Essence below!
The upcoming film boasts a runtime of two hours and 41 minutes, making it one the longest movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Anxious fans have already been rattled to the core with multiple trailers for the movie, which offer a glimpse into how Boseman’s absence is memorialized.
But the MCU flick is just one of many iconic roles on Bassett’s enduring résumé. Long before the legendary actress was recognized as Wakanda’s Queen, she was respected for embodying Tina Turner in 1993’s What’s Love Got to Do with It, which earned her an Oscar nomination. Despite being a celebrated and undeniable movie star, the Waiting to Exhale actress revealed that earning equitable pay is still an uphill battle.
“Listen, even after What’s Love, I’ve done projects where you’re getting paid the minimum,” said Bassett, who revealed she’d only been paid $5,000 for a project she did last year.
“Sometimes it is, and a lot of times I’ve turned things down because the project’s not right, or the situation’s not right, or the story’s not right,” she continued. “You always want the muse to show up. As they say, all money ain’t good money.”
However, last year, she became one of the highest-paid actresses of color on television. She currently stars in the Fox drama “911,” where she reportedly earns upwards of $500,000 per episode — and she’s owed every cent. “As RiRi said, ‘Pay me what you owe me,’” Bassett said. “We all should be compensated fairly, and that was one of my mantras. I would say to myself, I want to work. I want to work consistently, and I want to be paid fairly, and that has happened.”
To read more about Bassett’s take on her lasting career in Hollywood, pick up the new issue of Essence.