“I have put in: put in the time, put in good work over time. I didn’t think that was a gift. I thought it was a given,” she said

Angela Bassett is getting candid about losing the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award in 2023, for her work in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

In her cover story for Town & Country‘s March issue, the Zero Day actress said she “found it interesting … that I wouldn’t be allowed to be disappointed at an outcome where I thought I was deserving.”

And while that doesn’t mean she isn’t happy for Jamie Lee Curtis, who won her first-ever Oscar for her performance in Everything Everywhere All at Once, Bassett, 66, said the loss still stung at the time.

“I love applauding people. But in that moment … ” she continued. “I have put in: put in the time, put in good work over time. I didn’t think that was a gift. I thought it was a given.”

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Although Bassett didn’t take home the Best Supporting Actress trophy in 2023 — which marked her second Oscar nomination, after a Best Actress nod nearly 30 years earlier for her performance as Tina Turner in 1993’s What’s Love Got to Do with It — she did receive an Honorary Oscar for her contributions to the film industry in 2024.

As she accepted the award onstage, Bassett shouted out “trailblazing” Black actresses who came before her, like Ruby Dee, Diahann Carroll, Cicely Tyson and Rosalind Cash: “They were my North Star, my guiding light, proof that while the road may not be without curves and bumps, there was a way to fulfill what I believed deep in my soul was my destiny.”

“It was standing on their strong, spiritually fortified shoulders that I often was sustained, and I thank them for every sacrifice, every doubt, every disappointment, every rejection, every triumph that I know they experienced along the way,” the actress said. “Because had it not been for their resilience, continuing to fight through their fears and the uncertainty and their willingness as they fought for every role, I would not have had a representation of what was possible for me.”

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“But this honor isn’t just for or about me,” she continued. “What I hope this moment means is that we are taking the necessary steps toward a future in which it is the norm, not the exception, to see and embrace one another’s full humanity, stories and perspectives.”

Bassett reflected on her early days in show business during her interview with Town & Country, telling the magazine, “You’re just trying to find little pieces where you are, little moments of daylight to be able to do this. So no matter how small it was, it was just a joy and a blessing.”

“I wonder if that’s why, when I get the opportunity, whatever opportunity it is, to perform or to be in front of an audience, to me it’s daylight. It’s really … you don’t take it for granted,” she added.

Zero Day is now streaming on Netflix.