BASSETT: Yeah, it does. But when do you begin to have that? BASSETT: Well, I didn't have to say too much because then the world started changing. I'm playing their mother, and they revere their mother. What was it? And so now you're known for doing guest spots. Do you feel that? And you'll hear Dorothea as well, voiced by Angela Bassett. And you make those decisions based on all the - you know, on the knowledge and awareness that you have at the time. He was holding my arms. SANDERS: Oh, that is a song for drama, though, because, you know, it just builds up and you can just go. BASSETT: Thank you, appreciate speaking with you. You know, the whole time, we were - yeah. SANDERS: What do you say when that happens? Phylicia Rashad, Angela Bassett and Tina Fey discuss the new Disney/Pixar movie “Soul.” The animated film is the first Pixar movie to have a Black lead animated character. She plays a world-renowned jazz saxophonist, Dorothea Williams, in "Soul," Disney and Pixar's latest animated film. She's one of the voices in the new Disney and Pixar animated film "Soul.". I'm Terry Gross. And Dorothy Donegan was another one of my favorites that I had an opportunity to see - phenomenal piano player. BASSETT: It may be you're a nurse on a soap opera. GROSS: We're listening to the interview our guest interviewer, Sam Sanders, recorded with Angela Bassett. WENN.com. You know, there is one movie that's always spoken of. DENNIS: (As Mya) No. Member since 05/2020. Share, rate and discuss pictures of Angela Bassett's feet on wikiFeet - the most comprehensive celebrity feet database to ever have existed. Well, the family's just my mother and sister. It's... SANDERS: I can hear the excitement. Bassett plays world-renowned jazz saxophonist Dorothea Williams in Disney/Pixar's latest animated film. And also, it was - well, at this time, it was a show that was created by three incredible sisters, you know? It starts streaming on Disney+ Christmas Day. This is FRESH AIR. This is amazing. You can't just look at my face and see that I'm sad. It's by John Batiste, who wrote, arranged and performed original jazz compositions for the film. I don't want you. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. Those were the places in theater where you could go beyond race, you know what I mean? And I remember thinking it would be as difficult for me to follow, you know, something that I had no aptitude or interest in than it would be to follow the most difficult thing that I'm passionate about. Angela Bassett will reprise her role as Erika Sloane in the forthcoming Mission: Impossible 7. Thank you so much. It was make believe. You're writing poems and short stories. And now - you know, as has been said sometimes, and we got to overcorrect, you know. BASSETT: Yeah, in Florida. THEDE: (As Tina) Oh, this [expletive] done lost her mind. It's been a delight. You know, and I was - my first love was theater. So now you want what you can't (laughter), what you don't have. SANDERS: If you wanted to say to folks that wanted to know who Angela Bassett is as a performer, what is one quintessential role of yours that you would steer them towards and say, if you watch that, you will get me as a performer? Let's get back to our interview with Angela Bassett. Here's a scene from the movie. And you don't have the other distractions, you know, the physicality, the facial expressions, you know, the others. I was like, "Master Of None." It's a commentary on standards of beauty for Black women. But at some point, you have to, like "Soul" - here we are (laughter). (Dec. 22) I think you know what I'm talking about. You feel that coming. I don't want you no more (crying). And he was strong. This year marks the 25th anniversary of Toy Story, Pixar’s first feature-length film, and the animation house has been one of Hollywood’s most consistent hit-makers ever since. I'm thinking right now specifically of John Singleton, you know, and "Boyz N The Hood," where I had come to LA from New York, you know - not much television. And I'm sitting in front one of them, who's a producer, and they choose me, you know, of all the girls in the world. BASSETT: (As Marie) She needed the help of a powerful voodoo queen (laughter). I'm Terry Gross, and this is FRESH AIR. SANDERS: So that was Angela Bassett playing Katherine Jackson, matriarch of the Jackson family in the TV miniseries "The Jacksons: An American Dream." Fresh Air For Dec. 22, 2020: Angela Bassett Hear the Fresh Air program for December 22, 2020 So I - you know, I had both, you know, brain and heart working. SANDERS: One of the portrayals of yours that made me say recently, oh, that's a different direction for Angela Bassett - who I've been watching and loving for years - your sketch on "A Black Lady Sketch Show.". (SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, “A BLACK LADY SKETCH SHOW”). He was not. SANDERS: Hearing you talk about this idea of, you know, the roles need to be about something, say something and, you know, this - back to this idea of dignity and, like, is this helping or hurting - you know, in some parts of the culture, I see a shift. So let's hear a bit of that scene that we're talking about, you as Katherine Jackson in this TV miniseries, "The Jacksons: An American Dream. You love seeing it all around you. But first, we're going to talk about her latest role. So what are you going to do - I don't know - shoot me? And they would play and play, and they would strain their necks looking at her, hanging on every word. Get on up here, Teach. BASSETT: (As Dorothea) So we're down to middle school band teachers now? GROSS: Angela Bassett is one of the voices in the new Pixar animated film "Soul." Angela Bassett Go to IMDb page. And you sit in theatre and you just came alive. Was it coming from family saying this to you, from other Black actors saying this to you or just from your own self-awareness? But it's generally just a reader or the director. So I went home and just jumped, you know, and pursued as much as I could in my little bitty town with not many opportunities on stage. Hollywood actress Angela Bassett feels it is important to have people of colour in the world of animated stories, because it is important for the young generation to know that there is a … BASSETT: You can't help but dream, desire to be excellent. I'm the moderator of the group, I guess. They've got 'Soul': Phylicia Rashad and Angela Bassett discuss the strong connection to their characters Comments Off Share Article Courtesy of Pixar (NEW YORK) -- Phylicia Rashad felt right at home when she took on the maternal role of Libba Gardner in the Pixar animated film Soul . ", (SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT"). If white folks can make "Breaking Bad" and also "The King's Speech," we can do whatever the heck we want. But she - so she - whenever she would see me perform - oh, Angela, when you did that, when you said, he dropped them - she had seen me in a production for colored girls, "Lady In Red." She's received Emmy nominations for her roles in "American Horror Story," as well as guest appearances on "Master Of None" and "A Black Lady Sketch Show." We talked briefly about how there was a time when society saw all of us as three-fifths and that was still around. It's more like - you know, it's more like - it was more like street theater. And the movie is all about whether or not Joe gets that big break. Thanks for having me. They said there're white and Black. Even growing up after drama school and coming to New York, it just seemed to be these constraints of - these are commercial actors. She spoke with our guest interviewer Sam Sanders, host of the NPR show It's Been A Minute. And those were the roles coming - you know, coming through New York, you know. BASSETT: We were in a support group - Bad Bitch Support Group, right. Or did it just work out that way? And everyone has up and left, and I am literally, with whomever I'm with, the last - the only (laughter) person in this theater, and I am weeping for - I'm just crying. (SOUNDBITE OF DAVE BRUBECK'S "SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN"). Blacklist user … I'm Terry Gross. So yeah, you do have to have a conversation. And I go to - and he was - and I was actually trying to just, you know, beat him down. That's who I sort of recalled and imagined in approaching Dorothea. I was like, wait a minute. But I think we should be. Both in front of the camera and behind the camera - opportunity. BASSETT: You know, I might be feeling a certain way about myself now today. I used to run around my house in my parents' face, going, I don't want you no more. BASSETT: Or I obsess about it being a little harder because that's - like, right now, all you have is my voice. We're not Black, we're brown. Let's get back to the interview our guest interviewer Sam Sanders recorded with Angela Bassett. QUESTLOVE: (As Curley) Hey, Dorothea, this the cat I was telling you about, my old middle school band teacher, Mr. Gardner. And they are one of - they could be one of nine kids in their seven, eight in their class. So she was very, very supportive. I don't want you. You know, it's just your voice. Emmy®, … Let's get back to the interview our guest interviewer Sam Sanders recorded with Angela Bassett. LAVERNE COX: (As Kiana) How you know she was a OK [expletive]? Can you set up this sketch for our listeners? No (laughter), you know. Yeah. I'm crying because they shot him. And they're saying, they're what? And I don't want you. These are, you know, musical theater actors. It's so alive. She received an Oscar nomination for playing Tina Turner in the 1993 film "What's Love Got To Do With It." And I just remember sitting at the Kennedy Center and seeing James Earl Jones in "Of Mice And Men," which I've seen many, many times. It has to give you the mood. Soul's Angela Bassett, Phylicia Rashad, and Questlove on their favorite Pixar moments. Are you teaching them things different about race than the way race was taught to you when you were a kid? This film also occurs in multiple dimensions. SANDERS: It's so good. And you want to be - you got to be a part of it, or what's living for? You're right. They're not white, they're peach. But as times change, you know, and roles come and go and opportunities, I've been able to say yes to various things that, I guess, have, you know, freed me from that, you know, from... BASSETT: The tightest constraints of being only this are only that. You're like, oh, lord. Here's Sam. UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) Hmm. I feel so much. You're trying to express yourself. BASSETT: Yeah, it soars, and I know he's watching me. Perry Mason: In the Case of the Silenced Singer, List of awards and nominations received by Angela Bassett, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Angela_Bassett_filmography&oldid=988294401, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Epiosde: "Angela Bassett Is the Baddest Bitch", Television documentary series; episode: "Water Apocalypse", Television series (28 episodes); executive producer, This page was last edited on 12 November 2020, at 08:38. 12/22/20 8:30AM. SANDERS: Angela Bassett, thank you so much for your time here on FRESH AIR. They would come in and audition you for film. You see it all around you. And then to - you know, to come through Yale School of Drama and walk by the plate glass window of an office and see Lloyd Richards sitting there as the head of your drama school, you know, the first Black man to direct "A Raisin In The Sun," a Black play by Lorraine Hansberry on Broadway, and to see working actors - you know, Gregory Hines in, you know, "Tap Dance Kid" and his brother and Vinnette Carroll's "Your Arms Too Short To Box With God" and Alvin Ailey and on and on. Did you want it to be that way, where you're doing a little bit of everything? SANDERS: In terms of progress on some of the stuff and some of the portrayals of women, of people of color, shows like "A Black Lady Sketch Show," do they give you hope or do you think there's still so much further to go? And, you know - but - and you just hope that they don't turn you loose until they've got what they absolutely came looking for. And you look up, and you'll find it on VH1 - something or another. SANDERS: Wow. - because I just remember it was everywhere when it came out, and it was on TV for years. It was - I mean, I grew up loving The Jackson 5, you know, daydreaming, just loving each and every one of them, my first concert I ever saw. It's about the look and the draw, you know, and drawing your man in. BASSETT: And what that might have felt like. Tiffiny Gravely, Principal; Antonio Hairston - Assistant Principal; Janice Largen - Assistant Principal; Richie Weaver - Assistant Principal; Gilbert, Jay - Athletics Director And what's even more important is that we're good with one another. But you don't want to just really smash their vulnerability and their innocence. It comes from going to the theater and seeing Cicely Tyson in "Sounder" or Diana Ross in "Lady Sings The Blues" - you know, I mean, not noble, rich, grand, stately characters but grand in their - you know, in what moves them and who they are and grand in these women's excellence, just singular excellence, you know? GROSS: We're listening to the interview that our guest interviewer Sam Sanders recorded with Angela Bassett. ANGELA BASSETT: (As Tina) I've got a room full of people who've come to see me - you hear me, Ike? And I've always known that what work for me may not work for everyone. Angela Bassett and Phylicia Rashad on 'Soul' and Remembering Chadwick Boseman (Exclusive) By John Boone‍ 10:00 AM PST, December 21, 2020 Entertainment Tonight But I have seen one back in the day of Betty Carter, you know, leading her quartet of young musicians, you know, whether it's Cyrus Chestnut, you know, and that ilk. BASSETT: And the sketch is called Angela Bassett Is The Baddest Bitch (laughter), you know? Sam is the host of the NPR show It's Been A Minute. (SOUNDBITE OF CONCENTUS HUNGARICUS PERFORMANCE OF JENO JANDO'S "PIANO CONCERTO NO. SANDERS: Here we go. She famously played Tina Turner in the Tina Turner biopic "What's Love Got To Do With It. SANDERS: Do you think that the Angela Bassett starting out early in her career, when there was more pressure to be noble - to be kings and queens - do you think she would have done that sketch? SANDERS: And you can say watching like eight times over again to really get that effect. She talks about that role, as well as the challenges she's faced as a Black woman in Hollywood. BASSETT: Yeah. I mean, the world started showing its face, you know? GABRIELLE DENNIS: (As Mya) Well, I saw this lady walking down a street without lashes on. The DVD disc: "What's Love Got To Do With It" is a beautiful 118 minute studio reenactment of the ups and downs with in and out experiences which led to the actual start --then, finally, the fascinating career success of a famous R&B vocalist: Tina Turner (Angela Bassett) and the abusive she lived with Ike Turner (Laurence Fishburne). So it really is about, you know, this is what it looks like, but always maintaining and having and insisting on your respect and humanity and that of others. And I remember just saying, I'm not playing him. BASSETT: Yeah. SANDERS: So let's hear a bit now of that sketch from "Black Lady Sketch Show." GROSS: This is FRESH AIR. In kindergarten, where they come home and say, they wouldn't let her play with them because they said she didn't look like the mother because of her skin, you know? Would the Angela Bassett of today turn it down now? It's so real. I enjoyed it. 1. They give you something different. BASSETT: It - I think I have to say it just worked out that way (laughter). They're making me say yes. I had gone on the audition. Equally adept at stage, screen, and television--and scorchingly hot wherever she goes--Angela Bassett honed her considerable acting chops in productions at Yale School of Drama, where the brainiac beauty earned an MFA.Angela made her film debut in the cult favorite F/X (1986) and broke through to critical (and horndog) acclaim in John Singleton's Boyz N the Hood (1991). But they were both proud. BASSETT: (As Mo) ...As long as you're not a basic [expletive]. I'm wondering, you know, it's obviously going to be different for your children growing up Black in this country than it was for you. You know. That's just the way that I've seen it, you know? Yeah. They give you something. BASSETT: Yeah, the ringleader. ", (SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE JACKSONS: AN AMERICAN DREAM"). Here it is a sketch show. Angela Bassett, Orlando Bloom and Gal Gadot Among the Celebrity Presenters for the 14th Annual CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute. 2020-05-09 19:14:51. SANDERS: ...Or in several roles on Ryan Murphy's "American Horror Story. No, we have to give you kings and queens. I literally see you on every page I look at. But you got to live in that moment. BASSETT: I literally remember saying that - if I could make people feel as bad as I feel right now. They only do commercials. Do it with excellence, not just a waste of time, you know. And it would just blow your mind. Yes. And "Antigone," you know - so I'm getting opportunity to play Antigone in a Greek tragedy. So I'm growing up in my Caribbean island, where everyone looks like me, you know, or my African country, you know. And when you have more awareness, you know, maybe you make different choices. Cameron Scheetz. You know, Halle Berry did that work, got that Oscar. She's one of the voices in Pixar's new animated film "Soul." The following is a comprehensive list of acting and directing credits for American actress Angela Bassett. I'd never been asked to do a sketch show before, so that was intriguing to me. And I remember thinking, oh, if I could make people feel as bad as I feel right now. Biography. But you get an opportunity to audition, but never for film. BASSETT: It definitely gives me hope. Bassett spoke to our guest interviewer, Sam Sanders. And then, when they get to about 14, and they think that, mom, that's a stereotype or you're - that's so race - or they think that you're wrong about it, about what goes on in the world. And like you said, never having seen this, but I think some of the funniest people I know are Black ladies (laughter). - come to see me. And so I remember - yeah, I was just, like - I was just caught up in that. SANDERS: So you had the performance in you. SANDERS: I find it interesting to hear you say that John Singleton helped you start to get out of those silos. You - it starts showing itself. And, you know, and it was something different. SANDERS: You know, it's interesting talking with the race and representation with you right now. But this is also a Pixar movie, which means that "Soul" is about bigger things as well, like what makes a person a person, what happens before and after life on Earth and what's the purpose of life anyway? I remember we were actually shooting at their house in Encino and - Lawrence Jacobs and myself. And it was wonderful to have opportunities with young directors maybe who didn't - they didn't look at it like that. And earlier in your career, more so than now, there was this pressure to outperform, overperform, be better than because you're Black, because you're a Black woman. And then you go to your theater and Negro Ensemble Company or whatever.