“Betty Shabazz told me ‘I never wore those kinds of clothes,'” Bassett said recently at a downtown Chicago hotel. “She could say whatever she wants. She lived quite a life.”
Bassett has thrived under the pressure that comes with playing a real-life figure (her role as Turner in 1993's “What's Love Got to Do With It” earned her an Oscar nomination). In fact, she admitted she has more fun playing these roles than fictional characters because she enjoys watching people and picking up their mannerisms.
That's one of the reasons her acting resume is so drama-heavy. Another reason? She believes she's been pigeonholed into the genre — not that she minds.
“My friends say I'm very funny and that I should do a comedy,” Bassett said. “But I love dramas. I'm attracted to them. I'm known for them. I love to cry and emote.”
Still, Bassett took her friends' advice and will appear in the upcoming romantic comedy, “Jumping the Broom,” which hits theaters Friday. She plays the mother of the bride (Paula Patton), who comes from an upper-class family, unlike the groom (Laz Alonso), who comes from a working-class family.
Loretta Devine plays the groom's brutally honest and short-tempered mother — a character Bassett knows all too well.
“My mom is definitely Loretta,” Bassett said. “She will speak her mind. She'll give you a look if she's displeased with something. It's like ‘Mom. If you want friends, show yourself friendly.'”
