In an interview with Entertainment Weekly’s ‘Beyond Beautiful,’ American Horror Story star Angela Bassett uncovers her hardest to land role—and it wasn’t about getting her groove back.
“Of all the roles that I’ve had in my career, the one that I fought the hardest to get, bar none, 100 percent was Tina Turner,” the actress reveals.
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Bassett explains that she had to convince the creative team of 1993’s What’s Love Got to Do With It that she could sing, dance, move like the great Tina Turner—not to mention convincingly portray her to viewers and fans.
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“It was rough and tough, but that one role in particular let me know what I was made of—that strong stuff. I don’t quit, I fight,” she states.
Standing where she is now at the age of 53, the actress says she would tell her 20 year-old self not to be afraid of anything and to try everything. “Do it all,” she says. “Speak up, be bold, be bad. Just live it.”
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The interview ends with Bassett identifying the women who inspire her, among whom are Kathryn Bigelow, Mary Ann Wright Edelman, Michelle Obama, Rosalind Cash, Gloria Foster, and Mary Alice. In addition to the list, Bassett adds the women of her family: her mother, aunt and grandmother.