Angela Bassett is easily one of the most accomplished actresses in the business. She’s been around for decades and approaches every role with a level of dedication and skill that few actors have. She is getting ready to grace the screen once again as part of the cast for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and many are wondering how at this stage in her career, she has not received the highest honor in film, an Academy Award. Snoop Dogg wants answers too.
Angela Bassett got her start in the mid-80s with small roles in F/X, Kindergarten Cop, and Critters 4. Large films like Boyz n The Hood and City of Hope would follow, with Malcolm X and What’s Love Got to Do with It establishing her as a true force in Hollywood. Bassett would go on to dominate the ’90s film scene with classics like Waiting to Exhale and How Stella Got Her Groove Back. Things quieted down a bit in the 2000s for Angela, who continued to work despite not scoring the kind of films that would lead her to Oscars or Golden Globes.
Despite this, she continued to remain one of the most respected actresses in the game and, in recent years, has seen an upswing in her popularity and the scale of her work. Black Panther has been a massive accomplishment for her, playing Queen Ramonda. She reprised her role in Avengers: Endgame, one of the highest-grossing films of all time. Meanwhile, on the television side, Bassett has come from win to win. She was a cornerstone of the American Horror Story universe, playing several roles across its various installments. She is also the star and executive producer of 9-1-1 and its spin-off, 9-1-1: Lone Star.
As far as accolades go, her honors include three Black Reel Awards, a Golden Globe Award, seven NAACP Image Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to nominations for one Academy Award and seven Primetime Emmy Awards. Her only time being up for Best Actress was in 1993 for her portrayal of Tina Turner. She did take home the Golden Globe that year though for the same part.
Snoop Dogg took to IG to reshare a post wondering why Bassett has not been awarded an Oscar or nominated since 1993. “So yall mean to tell me Angela Bassett done played Rose Parks, Coretta Scott King, Tina Turner, Betty Shabazz, Biggie Mama, done got her Grove Back, burned her cheating husband clothes and gave birth to the king of Wakanda and ya’ll still ain’t have auntie no oscar!?” Angela Bassett shared the post in her IG story.
Snoop Dogg’s frustration is understanding, as he too has famously been shut out of the most prestigious award in his field, the Grammys. Despite being nominated several times between 1994 and 2016, Snoop has never taken one home. He’s scored two nominations for Album of the Year as a feature, in 2011 with Katy Perry and her album Teenage Dream and in 2016 with Kendrick Lamar on To Pimp a Butterfly. On his own, he has been nominated in every major hip-hop and rap category with no wins to date.
Will these legends get properly recognized in their lifetimes?