Angela Bassett Wins First Emmy, And It’s Not For ‘9-1-1’

Angela Bassett continues to thrive almost 40 years into her career, as the thespian just received her first Emmy Award.

Awarded during Saturday’s (Sept. 7) Creative Arts Emmys, Bassett took home a trophy for outstanding narration on National Geographic’s nature documentary Queens. The legend opened up about the award to press backstage, sharing what this particular honor means to her.

“We don’t work for these, but we receive them for all the hard work that we do,” Bassett said. “Of course, it’s not work that you do alone, even though it’s for narration. There’s a whole team that pursued me and believed in me, fought for me, and worked with me to tell this amazing story of females in the wild kingdom, led by an all-female production team, a first in wildlife documentary filmmaking. So that was pretty inspiring to me in and of itself.”

When asked what made her take the gig, Bassett referred to her time on FX series 9-1-1, which was in the off-season when she accepted the narrator role.

“I was awfully tired after chasing bad guys and being a cop. The idea of an all-female crew in the wilderness telling this story and centering it on the matriarchs and the conservation they were doing — it touched my heart.”

She also expressed her surprise at winning one of the big four awards, adding, “This is one of the big ones, and that doesn’t usually happen. Whenever you’re acknowledged, I’m just, you know, a girl who just wanted to act. My mentors were way out ahead of me. I just looked to them and got inspiration and hope and, and I just put my focus, my energy and my love to try to make it happen in my life and for my life.”

Bassett also has an honorary Oscar she was awarded in January 2024.

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