2022 NAACPIA: Angela Bassett Wins NAACP Image Award For Outstanding Actress In A Drama Series
Angela Bassett won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress In A Drama Series for her role as Athena Grant on 9-1-1 Saturday night (February 26).
Presented by Questlove at the National Jazz Museum in Harlem, Bassett was announced the winner and provided a very gracious acceptance speech.
“Thank you NAACP for your support tonight and my entire career,” she said. “Definitely want to thank my fellow nominees whose work is consistently nuanced and beautiful and inspiring.”
Bassett also thanked 9-1-1 show creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Tim Minear who she said “steers” the ship for the series. Additionally, she praised her castmates who she noted “worked and gave everything to make a number 1 show,” as well as her own family.
“I’m so blessed and so fortunate that we have that collaboration and respect with one another whether it’s in the writer’s room or in front of the camera,” Bassett said on being an executive producer on the show after her win. “It means the world. They take whatever I bring and take it seriously. They are right there with me and behind me.”
Bassett was also asked if she could talk to her younger self about what advice she would give.
“It’s going to be difficult but as long as you’re passionate and have good intentions and a good heart you’ll be okay, do it with your whole heart,” she said.
When asked what it means to be a person of Black excellence, Bassett noted: “It means, my mama, my hometown, my community, they poured into me, it means that the love I have for the craft, it's still there, that others are watching, paying attention, taking notes, it’s not just the work, it’s who you are as a human being, we all show up with compassion and love. Work hard, be kind, you don’t know who is watching you.”
Bassett went up against Dawn-Lyen Gardner (Queen Sugar), Octavia Spencer (Truth Be Told), Queen Latifah (The Equalizer), and Rutina Wesley (Queen Sugar).
This is Angela Bassett’s eleventh NAACP Image Award win. Previously she won for her roles in Malcolm X, What’s Love Got to Do with It, ER, Black Nativity, and also for the same role in 9-1-1 from last year’s awards, and more. She’s been nominated 23 times in total.
