Angela Bassett has portrayed several real-life figures during her 20-plus year career in film and television -- including Tina Turner; Malcolm X's wife, Betty Shabazz; Michael Jackson's mother, Katherine Jackson; and Notorious B.I.G.'s mother, Voletta Wallace — but only once did she ever receive any sort of criticism afterward from one of the women.“Betty Shabazz told me ‘I never wore those kinds of clothes,'” Bassett said recently at a downtown Chicago hotel. “She could say whatever she wants. She lived quite a life.”
Bassett has thrived under the pressure that comes with playing a real-life figure (her role as Turner in 1993's “What's Love Got to Do With It” earned her an Oscar nomination). In fact, she admitted she has more fun playing these roles than fictional characters because she enjoys watching people and picking up their mannerisms.
That's one of the reasons her acting resume is so drama-heavy. Another reason? She believes she's been pigeonholed into the genre — not that she minds.
“My friends say I'm very funny and that I should do a comedy,” Bassett said. “But I love dramas. I'm attracted to them. I'm known for them. I love to cry and emote.”
Still, Bassett took her friends' advice and will appear in the upcoming romantic comedy, “Jumping the Broom,” which hits theaters Friday. She plays the mother of the bride (Paula Patton), who comes from an upper-class family, unlike the groom (Laz Alonso), who comes from a working-class family.
Loretta Devine plays the groom's brutally honest and short-tempered mother — a character Bassett knows all too well.
“My mom is definitely Loretta,” Bassett said. “She will speak her mind. She'll give you a look if she's displeased with something. It's like ‘Mom. If you want friends, show yourself friendly.'”
The movie is set in Martha's Vineyard and was filmed in six weeks in a small town in Nova Scotia. “They hadn't had so many black folks ever,” Bassett said. “They were like, ‘We wish you guys would stay.'” Bassett's lone filming experience in Chicago wasn't anywhere as long as the “Jumping the Broom” shoot, but she still managed to have a memorable time.
“We were filming the last season of ‘ER,' and Michelle Obama came by with the girls,” Bassett said. “It was when (Barack Obama) was running for the Democratic nomination. The hullabaloo that caused. … I had to tell people ‘They are our guests. Put those cameras away.' I took her to the makeup trailer.”
Bassett, who will appear in this summer's superhero flick, “Green Lantern,” provided the voice of Michelle Obama on an episode of Fox's “The Simpsons” but never received any feedback from the first lady.
Asked what sort of feedback she received from Turner, Bassett — imitating a serious Turner — responded, “You play me well.”
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