Angela Bassett has revealed that finding her next acting role became difficult after her acclaimed performance as Tina Turner in the 1993 biopic What's Love Got to Do With It, citing limited opportunities for Black women in Hollywood at the time.
Bassett discussed the period in a preview of an interview with Linsey Davis for All Access on ABC News Live Prime, released by People on Monday, 28 September 2026. The actress, now 68, said roles available to women of colour were 'few and far between' following her performance as Turner.
'Far in Between' Roles
The role had been a major career breakthrough. Bassett portrayed Turner opposite Laurence Fishburne as Ike Turner in the film, which was based on Turner's autobiography I, Tina. Her performance earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress at the 1994 Oscars, making her the first Black actress to receive an Oscar nomination in that category since Whoopi Goldberg's nomination for The Color Purple in 1986.
Bassett did not win the Oscar, with Holly Hunter taking the award for The Piano. She did, however, win the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama, as well as an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Motion Picture. The Television Academy also lists the Turner performance among the defining achievements of Bassett's career.
More than three decades later, Bassett said the acclaim surrounding the film did not translate into a steady supply of comparable film roles.
'Remember, it was during a period of time where, I guess, roles were few and far between for a woman of colour — you know, of a certain hue,' Bassett said, according to People. She recalled that casting opportunities were often narrowly defined and that projects were more likely to seek white women in their 30s rather than leave roles open across racial backgrounds.
A Showy Leading Role
Bassett also described the pressure that came with deciding what should follow a performance as prominent as Turner. She questioned whether her next project needed to represent a move sideways or upwards after what she described as a 'showy' leading role.
The challenge was not simply about following an acclaimed performance. Bassett was navigating an industry in which opportunities for Black actresses were considerably more limited than they are today, according to her account.
Her career after What's Love Got to Do With It nevertheless included a series of prominent roles. She appeared in Waiting to Exhale in 1995, Strange Days in 1995, How Stella Got Her Groove Back in 1998 and Sunshine State in 2002. She also portrayed Betty Shabazz again in Panther in 1995, following her earlier performance as Malcolm X's wife in Spike Lee's Malcolm X. The Academy records those roles among her notable film work.
Academy Awards and Starring Roles
Bassett later expanded her work across film and television, including starring roles in American Horror Story, 9-1-1 and Marvel's Black Panther films. Her performance as Queen Ramonda in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever earned her another Academy Award nomination in 2023, this time for Best Supporting Actress.
That second nomination came nearly 30 years after her first. The gap illustrates the uneven career path Bassett has described, although it does not by itself establish that the 1993 Oscar nomination caused later difficulties in securing roles.
Changes in Hollywood
Bassett now says Hollywood has changed substantially for Black women. She pointed to the growth of digital filmmaking and the ability of creators to produce and distribute their own work as developments that have expanded opportunities.
'You have a phone in your hand, you can make your own movie and content, and it can be very successful,' she said. 'So things have changed.'
More than 30 years after playing Turner, Bassett remains active across film and television, with her career spanning major studio productions, television dramas, animated features and biographical performances.
