Michael B. Jordan, Jonathan Majors Praise Angela Bassett on Oscars Stage After Supporting Actress Loss: ‘We Love You’

“Hey Auntie. We love you.”

Five simple words from presenters Michael B. Jordan and Jonathan Majors, directed at Angela Bassett, who was nominated for the best supporting actress Oscar during Sunday night’s ceremony.

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As the “Creed III” co-stars took the stage to present the award for best cinematography — two categories after the supporting actress prize went to “Everything Everywhere All At Once” star Jamie Lee Curtis — they took a moment to speak to Bassett, seated before them.

“Hey Auntie,” Jordan began, echoing his dialogue from 2018’s “Black Panther,” as his character Erik Killmonger slyly introduced himself to Bassett’s Queen Ramonda.

Majors picked up from there, adding: “We love you.” (Both he and Bassett are alumni of the Yale School of Drama, with Majors sharing the screen in HBO’s “Lovecraft Country” with her husband, Courtney B. Vance.)

The kind words from Jordan and Majors came as the internet lamented Bassett’s loss — and the stoic look on her face when her name wasn’t called — by sharing the clip of her as Queen Ramonda, crying out, “Have I not given everything?” from the 2022 Marvel Studios film “Wakanda Forever.”

Bassett’s Oscar nomination was for her work in the “Black Panther” sequel, in which she portrays the ruler of the kingdom of Wakanda, the Afro-futuristic home of the Black Panther. “Wakanda Forever” was crafted following the death of franchise star Chadwick Boseman, with the cast and filmmaker Ryan Coogler channeling their own grief over their loss into a powerful tribute. Had Bassett won, she would’ve become the first actor starring in a Marvel Studios film to win an Oscar, continuing the “Black Panther” franchise’s strong legacy at the Academy Awards.

The acknowledgment from the Academy marked her second nod, the first coming 29 years ago in the best actress category for portraying Tina Turner in “What’s Love Got to Do With It.” This year, Bassett was nominated alongside “Everything Everywhere All at Once” actors Curtis and Stephanie Hsu, “The Banshees of Inisherin” star Kerry Condon and “The Whale” actor Hong Chau.

At certain points during this awards season cycle, Bassett had seemed like the frontrunner for the prize. She was honored with the Golden Globe, Critics’ Choice Award and a host of NAACP Image Awards, including Entertainer of the Year, despite those not being considered precursors for the Oscars prize. She was also nominated by the Screen Actors Guild (with the prize going to Curtis) and at BAFTA (where Condon won).

Bassett’s most celebrated credits include “How Stella Got Her Groove Back,” “Akeelah and the Bee” (starring a young Keke Palmer and Laurence Fishburne) and her portrayal of a trio of historical figures — Betty Shabazz (in “Malcolm X”), Katherine Jackson (“The Jacksons: An American Drama”) and Rosa Parks (“The Rosa Parks Story”).

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