Actress Angela Bassett Makes Oscar History
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Tuesday, Jan. 24 that actress Angela Bassett received the first Marvel Cinematic Universe Best Supporting Actress nomination for her role in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” Bassett makes history as the first actor recognized for a performance in a Marvel Cinematic Universe film.
Bassett, 64, portrays Queen Ramonda, the queen mother of the late King T’Challa, depicted by the celebrated and terribly missed actor, the late Chadwick Boseman, and Shuri, played by the talented Letitia Wright. Bassett won the 2023 Golden Globe and Critics Choice awards for her portrayal of Queen Mother and received a 2023 SAG Award nomination.
This isn’t the first Oscar nomination for the masterly actor. In 1994, Bassett received a Best Actress nomination for her portrayal of Tina Turner in “What’s Love Got to Do With It.” The beloved actress currently stars in the Fox drama “9-1-1” as Athena Grant, a Los Angeles police field sergeant and an executive producer on the show.
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” received five Oscar nominations: Best Supporting Actress, Best Costume Design, Best Original Song, Best Makeup and Hair Styling, and Best Visual Effects.
Oscar winner Ruth E. Carter, the gifted designer, received her second nomination for costume design, winning the Oscar in 2019 for the 2018 Black Panther film. Carter is the first Black to win the Oscar for Best Costume Design. Carter also received Oscar nominations for Best Costume Design for the 1997 film “Amistad,” the 1992 film “Malcolm X” and an Emmy nomination for the 2016 limited television series “Roots.”
Global superstar and nine-time Grammy Award winner Rihanna received her first nomination for Best Original Song, “Lift Me Up,” with music by Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler, and Judwig Goransson; lyrics by Tems, and Ryan Coogler.
A new mom, Rihanna, will take the stage as the featured performer for Super Bowl LVII at the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
Camille Friend and Joel Harlow share a nomination for Best Makeup and Hairstyling. An award-winning hairstylist, this is Camille Friends’ first Oscar nomination.
Geoffrey Bauman, Craig Hammack, Christopher White, and Dan Sudick are nominated for Best Visual Effects. This is the third Oscar nomination for Christopher White, known for his brilliance in visual effects. He shared visual effects nominations for the 2011 film, “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” and the 2012 film, “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.”
“Black Panther:Wakanda Forever,” a blockbuster film, celebrates the real-life passing of actor Chadwick Boseman, 43, who received an Oscar nomination posthumously for his portrayal of trumpeter Levee Green in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” The prolific actor graced the big screen in several iconic films, starring as Jackie Robinson in “42,” James Brown in “Get On Up,” Thurgood Marshall in “Marshall,” and Stormin Norman in the Spike Lee film,“Da Five Bloods.”
The 95th Oscars live broadcast starts at 5 PM PT on March 13 and “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” begins streaming on Disney+ on February 1.
