Angela Bassett could earn herself and Marvel Studios a first acting Oscar, but was beaten on the night by Jamie Lee Curtis.
Angela Bassett’s hopes of becoming the first Marvel star to earn themselves an acting Oscar came to an end as the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever star was narrowly beaten in the Best Supporting Actress category by Everything Everywhere All At Once’s Jamie Lee Curtis. After picking a Golden Globe, Critics Choice Award and more, it had been expected that Bassett would manage to beat off competition from the likes of Curtis and Stephanie Hsu to take the award in a huge coop for the actress and for Marvel Studios.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever arrived in cinemas late in 2022, and while it did not quite match Black Panther, the film managed to pick up various award nominations as Awards season got under way. Among those nominations was Angela Bassett, who found herself in the Best Supporting Actress category at many of this year’s awards for her performance as Queen Ramonda. Over the last month, Bassett has become the first actress to secure a major acting award for Marvel Studios at the Golden Globes and her Oscar nod almost guaranteed.
However, on the night it was Jamie Lee Curtis who upset the Marvel party to claim her first Oscar win for her supporting role in Everything Everywhere All At Once. Having already seen her co-star Ke Huy Quan take the Best Supporting Actor award, the film is already scoring some big hits and is well on the way to being the biggest winner of the night.
Jamie Lee Curtis Follows Up Her SAG Win With Her First Oscar.
Despite being one the best known actresses in Hollywood, Jamie Lee Curtis has taken almost five decades to finally claim her first acting Oscars. Curtis stars in Everything Everywhere All at Once as the grouchy, unpleasant jobsworth Deirdre Beaubeirdre, the IRS inspector standing between Evelyn and her family’s financial freedom. Of course, variants and the multiverse play a crucial role in Everything Everywhere All at Once, with Curtis playing various different versions of Deirdre, including one with sausage fingers who is in a relationship with an alternate, sausage-fingered Evelyn.
Ahead of the awards, Curtis’ co-star Michelle Yeoh, who herself is up for Best Actress at the ceremony, commented how much it has meant to work alongside the actress, who she says has been a friend and support for many years. She said:
“We have known each other for many years. We fell in love on first email. She was like, ‘Let’s ditch the directors of the movie, the Daniels, and run away!’ I was like, ‘A woman after my own heart.’ When you meet someone and have that connection, it’s not the length of time you’ve known them. A friendship became a very precious relationship. She wakes up very early and I’m an early bird as well, so we end up texting each other. She’s rooting for me. Jamie Lee is one of the most generous in spirit that I have ever met. She’s always giving. She’s always sending me something and texting ‘Did you get it bae?’ She’s always sharing. And yet at the same time, she’s friggin’ Hollywood royalty — but she is nurturing.”