ABC
Jamie Lee Curtis is an iconic Hollywood figure, thanks to her role in the Halloween franchise. She’s also not even the Best Supporting Actress in her OWN movie, Everything Everywhere All At Once. Both of these things can be true at the same time.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, however, didn’t agree as voters apparently conflated those two facts when voting for Curtis to win Best Supporting Actress over co-star Stephanie Hsu, Kerry Condon, Hong Chau, and Angela Bassett, who looked particularly perturbed by Curtis’ win.
Running as the favorite for most of the award season, Bassett watched her long-awaited Oscar be slowly but surely swept away from her by that was the tidal wave of momentum that Curtis possessed in the final few weeks of the race, culminating in her win on Sunday night.
And despite her best efforts, Bassett clearly struggled to mask her emotion as Ariana DeBose announced Curtis as the winner for an award she was far from deserving of.
Angela Bassett’s reaction hurts me #Oscars 🙁 https://t.co/wUgwJ5TWBA
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) March 13, 2023
Angela Bassett’s reaction to Jamie Lee Curtis’ name being called…you can tell how much that Oscar would have meant to her. she is, was, and always will be incredible. I better see her on that stage SOON pic.twitter.com/oHDfuDUksG
— Spencer Althouse (@SpencerAlthouse) March 13, 2023
OMG Angela Bassett’s face. Simply not having it.#Oscars
— Eric Italiano (@eric_ital) March 13, 2023
Curtis wasn’t the only member of Everything Everywhere All At Once to take home an Academy Award, as Ke Huy Quan won for Best Supporting Actor, while Michelle Yeoh won for Best Actress. Additionally, the film also took home the prize for Best Original Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Director, and Best Picture.
As for Bassett, her loss is not only a personal blow for her but it’s yet another example of how the Academy seems to look down on the work of the comic book genre. To date, only two actors have won an Oscar for playing a comic book character, and both of them played Joker: Heath Ledger and Joaquin Phoenix. Given her pedigree as an actor, though, Bassett will surely have other chances to win an Oscar.
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