Angela Bassett Admitted She Had a 'Human' Reaction To Losing the Oscar to Jamie Lee Curtis in 2023
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Oscar season is over, but the pain of losing the award still stings for some nominees — and it’s an understandable reaction. Actors work their whole lives to get onto that Dolby Theatre stage, and the opportunity only comes for some once in their careers. That’s why Angela Bassett’s revealing insight about her loss to Jamie Lee Curtis at the 2023 ceremony feels refreshing because people rarely admit that they were upset.
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The 65-year-old actress was nominated last year for her role as Queen Ramonda in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and she was up against Curtis for her performance in Everything Everywhere All At Once. After missing out on the Oscar in 1994 for playing Tina Turner in What’s Love Got to Do With It (which she should have won for), Bassett was the early favorite to take home the Best Supporting Actress in last year’s race.
“I just knew your name was gonna be called,” Oprah Winfrey told Bassett in a recent OWN Spotlight interview. “And then, when they didn’t, I was beside myself! We were beside ourselves in our house.”
“I was gobsmacked,” Bassett laughed, “I thought I handled it very well, and that was my intention: to handle it very well,” she continued. “It was, of course, a supreme disappointment, and disappointment is human, so … yes, I was disappointed, and I handled it like a human being.”
And that disappointment was visible all over her face when the reality sunk in that the Oscar was not hers. Social media described it as “Angela Bassett face,” but we don’t blame her — Oscar pundits were telling her that Oscar was hers all season long, and suddenly, it wasn’t. Winfrey praised her for “still as gracious as a queen would be” in that moment.
“Absolutely. For myself and for my children, who were there with me, yes,” Bassett explained. “I know a pastor who says, ‘Technology is different — people are the same.’ There are going to be these moments of disappointment that they are going to experience. But how do you handle yourself in the midst of them? We’re going to smile, we’re going to be gracious, we’re going to be kind, we’re going to party, anyway.“
The Academy realized that both of Bassett’s losses were tough ones, especially with the incredible body of work she’s given fans and Hollywood over the decades. They feted her at the 2023 Governor’s Awards in January and gave her an honorary Oscar. The gold statuette now sits on her shelf, representing all of the hard work it took to get to the A-list in the entertainment industry. She may not have had her moment on that Dolby Theatre stage, but she’s still a winner in our books.
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