Angela Bassett Praises God at Golden Globes: ‘Good Things Come to Those Who Pray’

Veteran actress Angela Bassett praised God during her acceptance speech at the Golden Globe Awards for her performance in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

Marking the second Golden Globe for Bassett following her 1993 win for her performance as Tina Turner in What’s Love Got to Do With It, Bassett made history on Tuesday night by being the first performer in a Marvel movie to win a prestigious acting award.

“I got to find my words. I’m so nervous. My heart is just beating,” Bassett said. “The late Tony Morrison said that your life is already a miracle of chance just waiting for you to order its destiny. But in order for that destiny to manifest, I think that it requires courage to have faith. It requires patience, as we just heard. And it requires a true sense of yourself. It’s not easy because the past is circuitous and it has many unexpected detours, but, by the grace of God, I stand here. I stand here grateful.”

Bassett added that her mother always said, “Good things come to those who pray.”

After thanking her husband, Courtney B. Vance, and her fellow cast and crew, Bassett then dedicated her award to the late Chadwick Boseman, the original Black Panther who died of colon cancer in 2020.

“We embarked on this journey together with love. We mourned, we loved, we healed. We were surrounded each and every day by the light and the spirit of Chadwick Boseman,” Bassett said. “We have joy in knowing that with this historic ‘Black Panther’ series, it is a part of his legacy that he helped to lead us. We showed the world what Black unity, leadership and love looks like, behind and in front of the camera. To the Marvel fans, thank you for embracing these characters and showing us so much love.”

As noted by Variety, Bassett joins four other actors to have been nominated/won a Golden Globe for their performance in a superhero movie. Jack Nicholson planted the flag with a nomination for his performance as Joker in 1989’s Batman, which was then followed by the late-Heath Ledger and Joaquin Phoenix winning an award for their turns as the iconic villain. Actor Ryan Reynolds also received a nomination (actor in musical/comedy) for his performance as Deadpool in 2016.