ANGELA BASSETT'S POWER OF POSITIVITY

THE STAR OPENS UP ABOUT HER HARD-WON PATH TO SUCCESS, HER 26-YEAR MARRIAGE WITH COURTNEY B. VANCE AND GETTING READY FOR HER TWINS TO LEAVE THE NEST

- ANDREA MANDELL

In the middle of a recent deluge, Angela Bassett found herself with a rare day off. Cozy at home in Los Angeles, she decided to cook dinner for Bronwyn and Slater, her 18-year-old twins she shares with husband Courtney B. Vance. “It was just like cats and dogs raining here,” she says. “I made dinner, and they’re like, ‘Oh, Mom, we love when you cook.’” Bassett, 65, took in the compliment—then felt her mom guilt rising like the tide. “I said, ‘Oh gosh, I feel so bad.’ And they were like, ‘Mom, stop. You’re a very busy woman,’” she recalls. “That was such grace that they offered me, because I do feel guilty about the time that I spend away.”

Recently “away” has meant spending hour after hour in a water tank filming season 7 of the action-packed first responders drama 9-1-1, which opens with her field sergeant Athena on a honeymoon cruise that gets hijacked by pirates. The reality is “just being soggy and wet and cold all day,” she deadpans while speaking over Zoom from her trailer.

For Bassett, who was awarded an honorary Oscar in January celebrating her powerhouse career, it has always been about “the work, not the fame.” The actress got her big break in 1991’s Boyz n the Hood and two years later received her first Oscar nomination for her electric portrayal of Tina Turner in 1993’s What’s Love Got to Do With It.