Angela Bassett talks new film 'Olympus Has Fallen'; Chris Brown and Rihanna
theGRIO REPORT - During an interview with theGrio, Angela Bassett talks about playing a character initially meant for a male actor in 'Olympus Has Fallen,' and weighs in on Chris Brown and Rihanna...
Nevertheless, the actress says she can understand the two singers’ ongoing romance.
“Do I understand the impetuousness of youth?” She comments. “They’re just young and passionate about each other. Sometimes you can just have a thing for someone. They can be wrong for you, but it’s just something; it’s a spark. You’ve got to go through it. You didn’t get to finish it up. And it might be finished in years or hopefully it won’t play out to something detrimental to both of them for the rest of their lives…Sometimes you’ve got to allow people to learn it without a doubt, and evidently this is what they’ve got to do. It’s hard because [we should] leave them alone, but of course some things are wrong and uncalled for.”
Conversely, Bassett’s 16-year marriage to actor Courtney B. Vance has managed to stay strong and avoid controversy over the years. The couple has 7-year-old twins together and, according to Bassett, make it work by “negotiating.” In fact, she says she finds it surprising that so many other Hollywood partners claim to avoid conflicting opportunities in the business, as it’s something they deal with frequently.
And that’s when the real love and dedication kicks in.
“It’s recognizing the other person is someone with passion and dreams and strengths and weaknesses, and allowing them to follow their path,” she explains. “That’s how you negotiate along the way. And you just get in it. When we started, we said, divorce is not an option. You just take certain things off the table. Unless they’re crazy, then you put it back on the table!”
Accordingly, Bassett reportedly turned down the chance to star alongside Cicely Tyson in the new Broadway revival of The Trip to the Bountiful due to scheduling overlaps. She will, however, appear in Kasi Lemmons’ upcoming film, Black Nativity, a retelling of the nativity story featuring an African-American cast, due this year.
All in all, Bassett appears to take work-life balance in stride, and opportunities come her way irrespectively. In addition to her film work, she’s also an active supporter of the Obama administration, though ultimately finds the government to be “confusing” and layered in complexity. It’s something she learned in this latest on-screen endeavor. Her biggest concern for the world then is simply “evil in men’s hearts.”
She says, “We have the capability of destroying ourselves; I hope we don’t.”
Follow Courtney Garcia on Twitter at @CourtGarcia
