Angela Bassett thought she was "deserving" of an Oscar for Black Panther 2: "I put in good work over time"

Angela Bassett has spoken out about her Oscar loss in 2023 and says she thought she was "deserving" of an Academy Award for her work in Black Panther 2.

"I found it interesting," Bassett said in a new interview with Town & Country. "Interesting that I wouldn’t be allowed to be disappointed at an outcome where I thought I was deserving."

Bassett was nominated for playing grieving mother Queen Ramonda in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, making her the first actor to ever be nominated for an Academy Award for a Marvel movie. It was her second nomination in her almost 40-year career.

Jamie Lee Curtis took home the gong for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Everything Everywhere All at Once instead, and Bassett's reaction to her win went viral.

"I love applauding people," she added, saying that she thought she had put in the work to be recognized, before correcting herself. "No, 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."

Next up for Bassett is Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. She reprises her Fallout role as Erika Sloane, a former CIA director who's now the President of the United States, opposite Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Vanessa Kirby, Pom Klementieff, Ving Rhames, and Simon Pegg.

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning arrives in theaters on May 23. In the meantime, get up to speed with the rest of this year's best upcoming movies with our guide to the biggest movie release dates in 2025.