Angela Bassett recalls her 1993 role as Tina Turner and says the role was challenging for her both physically and emotionally.
Angela Bassett played the role of Tina Turner in the biographical film based on the life of American singer-songwriter Tina Turner. The film is directed by Brian Gibson and written by Kate Lanier.
Angela Bassett, who is 65 years old, says in this week’s People cover story, “It’s not playtime or acting. You assess a part of your spirit in the portrayal when you really connect.”
American singer duo Tina and IKe, who got married in 1962, separated after 16 years of marriage. Ike died on December 12, 2007, at the age of 76, while Tina died on May 24, 2023, at the age of 83.
After their separation, Tina was real and open publicly about the years of abuse she suffered from it.
As per the people report, Bassett says that Fishburne, 62, would often be her advocate on the set of the biopic while they shot the violent scenes — a process that sometimes took 16 hours a day.
“I was newbie on the scene, I don’t have so much influence or say. But I had an advocate who would join me by my side, and we would say, in a firm and delicate way, ‘We got it.'”
Recalling filming, Angela Bassett says that “To portray the particular violence of rape was just emotionally draining and would be for anyone,” says Bassett.
Talking about another scene, she says, “I literally wailed, cried for 16 hours, whether I was on-screen or off-screen for my costars.”
“I probably wouldn’t do that today. But during that time, we were just so committed through the fire.”
Bassett’s performance as Turner in What’s Love Got to Do with It in 1993 received strong reviews, which earned Bassett a Golden Globe Award and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress.
She calls it “a real watershed moment in my life. And I knew in the making of it that it had the possibility of changing my life, and it could change the trajectory of my career.”
She has won many awards over her career; Angela Bassett has received multiple awards and nominations, including two Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award.
She won a Golden Globe award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture for her role in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.