Angela Bassett’s Epic, Day-long Sister Celebration is #BirthdayGoals

Recently, I visited actress Angela Bassett in New York City, where we discussed our August birthdays, aging well, prioritizing health, making time for family and fun, and of course, filmmaking. Despite being up since 4:00 AM to do not one but two morning shows, she radiated energy and joy during our post-lunch chat in her hotel suite. Bassett was in town for a health education project aimed at helping older adults and their loved ones understand the risks of RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, and the power of prevention. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Claire McIntosh: Angela Bassett, hello!

Angela Bassett: Hello.

CM: Belated happy birthday.

AB: Thank you, appreciate that.

CM: The two of us have birthdays two days apart.

AB: Oh, when’s yours?

CM: You’re the 16th, and I’m the 18th.

AB: Oh, okay, beautiful. Happy belated to you as well.

CM: Thank you. What did you do for your birthday?

AB: I spent it with my sisters. We did a red light sauna, you know. We did body scrubs and beautification. We saw the musical “& Juliet.” We had a beautiful dinner. So yeah, we just ran around town from morning to evening doing everything.

CM: That’s wonderful.

AB: We were trying to get a little workout in there, but we did miss that. We wanted to do Bungee Fit. But we went to check it out, so we know where to go next time.

CM: You’re entitled to miss a workout on your birthday! I know I did. So are these your blood sisters or sister friends?

AB: Yeah, blood sisters.

CM: How many sisters do you have?

AB: I have three.

CM: Okay, I have four. I’m one of five girls. I want to tell you what I did for my birthday. So, my family and I left on the 10th to go to Curaçao. Days before our flight, I started getting a sore throat and a headache. And you know, I don’t want to get sidelined by illness! It always comes at the wrong time.

AB: Inopportune.

CM: Right, and then I find out that I’m going to interview Angela Bassett when I get back, and I’m like, I can’t be sick, I can’t be sick. But it was happening. And it was a respiratory infection. I still enjoyed our trip.

AB: Okay. You did; you went anyway.

CM: Yes.

AB: So it was mild.

CM: I thought it was a cold. I Googled my symptoms, including a dry cough. If we were not out of town, I would have gone to the doctor, but Doctor Google says I might have had RSV.

AB: Well, GSK gave me information about RSV. What they had to say made sense to me. Because of the proportion of our population that it affects. We’re aware that it can affect infants, but our elderly are also vulnerable. If you’re over 75 years of age, or you are 50 to 74 and have underlying chronic medical conditions, consider having a conversation with your doctor or your pharmacist and find out your risk.

CM: Wow, it’s interesting. I was with my sons. I wanted to feel 100 percent. I was maybe 65 percent, and because I love my kids, I pushed it to 75. But, you know, you have to decide, okay, I can’t go on that hike. I can’t drive the ATV because I’m on medication, but I can sit behind you on the ATV. So it’s very disruptive when these things happen.

AB: Absolutely. You don’t want to miss those moments. There’s power in prevention. You know, I also learned that each year, 177,000 individuals are hospitalized because of severe RSV. And of that number, it’s estimated that approximately 14,000 result in deaths. So yeah, it’s no joke.

CM: I have learned to use the notes app on my phone to log any symptoms to prepare for my next doctor’s visit. Let me write it down and talk to her about it. She’s great. Okay, what else did I do for my birthday when I returned? My twin sister and I had Mediterranean food and some wine, and then we watched “Mission Impossible—The Final Reckoning!”

AB: Oh.

CM: And we loved it. How did you enjoy filming that movie?

AB: Oh, I enjoyed it. We shot the seventh and the eighth installments back-to-back a couple of years ago. So it’s been a while since we finished, and it all comes together, but it was wonderful. We shot it in England. Of course, they went all over the globe, but my little portion as President, [chuckles] was in one place. I enjoyed it: the cast, the crew, some phenomenal actors. We spent a lot of time together. And there’s no one like Tom Cruise. He’s the best.

CM: What’s it like to work with him?

AB: Oh, listen, he wants you to get it right. You know, when you show up, don’t worry about the lines. We’re going to take our time. So I had an opportunity to just play in whatever way I wanted. If I wanted to [approach my role as US President] this way or that way, to be more stern with [his character], or to have more camaraderie. I love that—options.

CM: I think of you as so glamorous, and for your role as President of the United States, they obviously had to give you a makeunder: the short hair, the very somber look. But you played that so well because you always bring gravitas and grace under fire and grit to your roles, so I enjoyed watching that. You’ve played President in two different films out this year. What was that like?

AB: I did another project on Netflix with Robert De Niro entitled “Zero Day.” In that one, we actually built the Oval Office, and I didn’t go to the Situation Room, but I was in the set’s Press Room, the hallway. I loved that. It was interesting to see what it looked like, because I’ve never been to the White House. But to sit behind the great desk...

CM: The Resolute Desk.

AB: Yes, yes, it feels very powerful. Very powerful.

CM: Was there a different approach to playing President in the one movie versus the other?

AB: No. As you say, it’s just gravitas, someone who’s sure of themselves, has great counsel, and listens to others. But then you make up your mind. You take the counsel, then the decision rests in your hands.

CM: That you made extremely clear.

AB: I’m happy. It was like I had to, you know, have poise and grace and also be taken seriously. Because sometimes, it’s easy for women to [access] our emotions and passions. You have to [project] poise and composure so that you are taken seriously in this high office.

CM: It’s interesting to see the range of roles you’ve taken on and how you’ve moved between big and small screens. Do you feel that there’s been a change...one of my colleagues said that in Hollywood, 60 isn’t what it used to be. Fifty isn’t what it used to be. Forty isn’t what it used to be, and she sees opportunities opening up. Do you feel that you have more options as an actor?

AB: I haven’t felt a slowdown, you know what I mean? I would say at the beginning of my career, maybe it’s, you know, a little steady, slow ramping up to a busy, you know, busy, busy time. But of course, at the beginning of my career, we had ABC, NBC, and CBS, and what was the other? Was it Fox or WB? Yeah, there were like four stations, you know, then in comes HBO and Showtime. But now I’d say, what do we have, 2,900? I don’t know.

CM: A lot. Does that mean more opportunities for actors?

AB: It’s interesting—more opportunity. And now you have these phones, you can make your own opportunities and drama and movies.

CM: Is it more fun now in this environment?

AB: It is more fun now, because you get to see the work of so many others, so many other talented individuals, and hopefully you get more of an opportunity yourself. Yes, it’s more fun now.