Award-winning actress Angela Bassett shares her future, her fire and the life lessons you'll wish you'd learned years ago
Angela Bassett is a trailblazer who needs no introduction, but we’ll give her one anyway. She has commanded both the big and small screens for decades, winning two Golden Globes and two Emmys, as well as earning two Academy Award nominations and an honorary Oscar. Whether you know her best from classics like Waiting to Exhale, Boyz n the Hood and How Stella Got Her Groove Back, or more recent roles in Black Panther and 9-1-1, you know that Bassett is an absolute legend.
Now 67 and the proud mother of 19-year-old twins, Bassett is still stealing every scene she steps into—and is showing no signs of slowing down. In this exclusive interview with Reader’s Digest, she opens up about what’s next for her career, the inspirations that shaped her and how she stays healthy and ready to tackle any challenges that come her way.
Read on for an inside look at the world of the queen of Wakanda herself—and prepare to be inspired to keep chasing your dreams, no matter where you are in your journey.
This video interview took place on Aug. 20, 2025, and has been edited for length and clarity.
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Reader’s Digest: You’ve taken on such a wide range of roles in your career, from action thrillers to powerful dramas. How do you decide which stories to tell, and what do you look for in a role?
Angela Bassett: A lot of times, I’m looking for one of those familiar stories, but told in a different way—in a way that I’ve not told it before. [I look for] something that challenges me, excites me or maybe scares me a little bit. It’s going to require that I stretch myself emotionally and physically, in which I can grow as a woman and individual. Maybe it’s going to shine a light. I’m doing this for the public eye, illuminating human nature and who we are on this earth. I search for that, or it just falls on me. Sometimes you just gotta let something rest on you and see how it feels.
Reader’s Digest: Growing up, who inspired you to believe in yourself and pursue acting at the highest level?
Angela Bassett: Definitely miss Cicely Tyson because, for a long time, she was a face I could catch, whether it’s The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman or stories like that. Sammy Davis Jr., Rosalind Cash, Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis—being able to see them inspired me to be an actress. I would listen to Ruby Dee going to the library. I’d put on an album of her reciting poetry by Langston Hughes. I then fell in love with poetry, Langston Hughes and, of course, Shakespeare.
I saw James Earl Jones when I was in drama school. I walked past him on the sidewalk. He was my favorite actor. When I was 15, I sat in the theater and saw him on the stage. It was so impactful. Theater was so impactful. We’re all sitting together having this experience in this darkened theater.
I also think my mom. She always loved to sing and had aspirations as a young person, but she never had the opportunity. She was very supportive of me when I started dabbling in that area. She was always very supportive, which was important during a time when you didn’t see people who look like me on television or in film very often. I had the educated aunt who was like, “How are you going to make a living?” My mother was just like, “Go for it.” You always gotta have somebody in your life who says, “Go for it.”
Reader’s Digest: That is so powerful! Thank you for being inspiring and for being an icon. Do you consider yourself an icon?
Angela Bassett: I’m just this regular old girl from Florida. We’re all icons, whether on the broad stage or our small stages.
Reader’s Digest: What is a challenge, a lesson or a surprising joy that fans might not know but you wish they did?
Angela Bassett: I’m cautious. Let’s be very careful with ourselves and what we surround ourselves with and who we surround ourselves with. Everybody does not have our best intentions at heart, so we have to be very mindful. As they say, keep your head on a swivel. Some things are going to trip us up, but hopefully, we’re safe, we’re conscious and we’re doing those things that grow us. A lot of living life and lessons happen in mistakes, so hopefully you make mistakes that you can learn from.
Reader’s Digest: You’ve spoken openly about your family’s history with heart disease and diabetes. How has that shaped the way that you approach your own health, the role of daily prevention in your life and your partnership with GSK’s Sidelined RSV campaign*?
Angela Bassett: I have long days and long hours. A lot is required, physically and emotionally. Sometimes it can be overwhelming. It’s important that you prioritize yourself and you take those moments to just quiet down, breathe, think, contemplate, continue to be curious, look out in in wonder and [have] gratefulness. It’s so easy to be overwhelmed and throw your hands up in the air. Find wonder, and enjoy the small things.
Gratitude is key. We have an opportunity to encourage and empower others to take care of their health, but there’s power in prevention, and that starts with what you eat, how you rest, how you think, how you feel and
how you move.
Reader’s Digest: Your twins are now in college. Back-to-school season is on the way. How does this time of year influence the way your family thinks about health and wellness, especially around contagious illnesses like RSV?
Angela Bassett: In my learning about RSV, fall, winter and early spring are when it typically spreads, although it can occur throughout the year. Kids are home for the summer. I’m thinking about RSV for myself, when I go in for my yearly checkup. There are some things that they have to be mindful of, especially in that college situation and living up in these dorms and suites with seven other people. You don’t know how people do anything. There’s power in prevention, and if we can take those steps, we can help keep our immune system healthy, prime and running perfectly. Partnering with GSK and their Sideline RSV campaign was a good opportunity to bring awareness about the risk.
Being a mother, I was aware that RSV could affect babies and young infants. But then I came to learn that 177,000 individuals 65 and older were hospitalized each year. Out of that number, roughly about 14,000 result in death, so it is a common and potentially dangerous virus. Speaking with your doctor and your pharmacist is step one.
Reader’s Digest: As you look ahead to your next chapter, both in your career and your advocacy work, what excites you the most? What do you still hope to explore?
Angela Bassett: That you’re never too old—that age does not mean limitations and that you have a lot of wisdom, a lot of experience and a voice. You have comfort in being who you are. Your young self tells you to take up for yourself and for others—to speak truth and to show up.
Rapid response with Angela Bassett
Want more fun tidbits about Bassett? Check out her answers below.
Reader’s Digest: Cats or dogs?
Angela Bassett: Dogs.
Reader’s Digest: Aisle seat or window?
Angela Bassett: Window.
Reader’s Digest: Mornings or nights?
Angela Bassett: Mornings.
Reader’s Digest: Would you travel to the past or the future?
Angela Bassett: The past.
Reader’s Digest: What is your favorite breakfast food?
Angela Bassett: Savory eggs.
Reader’s Digest: If you weren’t an actress, what would you be doing?
Angela Bassett: I always said [I’d be a] teacher. I love young people, so to help them learn and see them learn—just full of life and potential—I love that.
Reader’s Digest: What advice would you give to your younger self?
Angela Bassett: I give it to myself every day, because life is so hectic. I also give it to my kids, and they finish the phrase. I say, “You can’t dance.” They say, “To every record.”
*Editor’s note: Reader’s Digest does not endorse any specific products or services.
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