Angela Bassett is known for her portrayal of strong Black women in movies and now the Academy Award nominated actress is taking her act into the superhero universe.

In Green Lantern, Bassett stars as a mysterious scientist with a tragic past named Amanda Waller.  She says it was a joy to bring the comic book character to life on the big screen.

“I enjoyed being part of Green Lantern and seeing a black woman in this magnificent world that they created,” Bassett told BET.com. “Amanda is a very capable, brilliant woman who wields a gun when need be. I don’t kick too much butt in this film, but the potential to kick butt is there. It was a lot of fun.”

Bassett’s character also finds herself in a few daredevil tight spots in the film, but the fantastically fit 53-year-old actress still credits her stunt double with having all the right moves.  “Half of my performance I’ll be seeing fresh. [When those scenes were shot] I was gone.  I’m no Tom Cruise; I’m not doing my own stunts,” she says. “I’ll really see how much fun I had after I see what my stuntwoman did and what the CGI effects are like.”

Green Lantern opens today in theaters nationwide.

(Photo: by Katy Winn/Getty Images)