Angela Bassett says 'there was no easy day' playing Tina Turner in 1993 biopic 'What's Love Got to Do With It'
"Every day and every scene was emotionally draining," Bassett says of portraying the late music icon.
Angela Bassett had both luck and determination on her side when it came to landing her seminal role as late rock and soul legend Tina Turner in What’s Love Got to Do With It, the celebrated 1993 biopic released in theaters 30 years ago, on June 25, 1993.
Whitney Houston, fresh off her swoony film debut in The Bodyguard (1992), was offered the role but had to pass due to pregnancy. Bassett, a rising young star beginning an impressive trifecta of films that also included Boyz n the Hood (1991) and Malcolm X (1992), subsequently beat out the likes of Halle Berry, Janet Jackson, Robin Givens, Pam Grier and Vanessa L. Williams.
And then the real work began. Bassett had only a month from the time she was hired in November 1992 until production began that December to master the distinct physicality and super-charged choreography of Turner, the iconic chart-topping "What's Love Got to Do With It" and "Private Dancer" singer who died in May at the age of 83.
From prep through the film's hectic three-month shoot, Bassett lived and breathed the role of Turner, whose rise to fame and famously volatile relationship with abusive husband Ike Turner (Laurence Fishburne) is portrayed in the Brian Gibson-directed film, based in part on the singer's autobiography, I, Tina, and adapted by Kate Lanier.
"It was so demanding, emotionally, every day," Bassett told Yahoo Entertainment during a Role Recall interview (watch above). "[There was no] easy day or easy week or easy setup. Every day and every scene [was] emotionally draining.
"I mean, you’re in pain, you ache 14, 15 hours a day. Working out two and a half hours with weights. Ten, 12 hours of learning dance moves and concert stuff."
Bassett considered doing her own singing for the film, but ultimately there wasn't enough prep time. She still labored over the vocal nuances, though.
"Going home at night laying in bed listening the inhalation of her breath on this particular line of the song, trying to get it exactly right so that literally they could film me lip-syncing a song and not have to cut anywhere because it was being matched," she recalls. "I didn't know it could be different. [They could film] it 25, 65 times and just [edited] it together. But no, that's as serious as I took it."
While Turner ultimately criticized some of the film's historical inaccuracies — and felt that it portrayed her as a "victim" through many of its difficult-to-watch sequences — she still consulted with Bassett and contributed to the soundtrack, rerecording classic songs and adding new tracks, including the hit single "I Don't Wanna Fight."
Bassett paid heartfelt tribute to Turner within hours of the music legend's death in May.
"How do we say farewell to a woman who owned her pain and trauma and used it as a means to help change the world?" she wrote on Instagram. "Through her courage in telling her story, her commitment to stay the course in her life, no matter the sacrifice, and her determination to carve out a space in rock and roll for herself and for others who look like her, Tina Turner showed others who lived in fear what a beautiful future filled with love, compassion, and freedom should look like.
"Her final words to me — for me — were 'You never mimicked me. Instead, you reached deep into your soul, found your inner Tina, and showed her to the world. I shall hold these words close to my heart for the rest of my days. I am honored to have known Tina Turner. I am humbled to have helped show her to the world. So on today, while we mourn the loss of this iconic voice and presence, she gave us more than we could have ever asked. She gave us her whole self. And Tina Turner is a gift that will always be 'simply the best.' Angels, sing thee to thy rest… Queen."
What’s Love Got to With It was a critical and commercial success, grossing $61 million from a budget of $15 million.
Bassett was rewarded with her first Oscar nomination for her deeply committed performance, but lost to The Piano star Holly Hunter. (Fishburne also earned a Best Supporting Actor nod.)
The actress earned her second nomination this year for her emotional swan song as the ill-fated Queen Ramonda in the 2022 Marvel sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
