Angela Bassett pays emotional tribute to Chadwick Boseman during history-making Golden Globes win

Angela Bassett truly shone during the 2023 Golden Globes as she made history by scooping the award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

With the shiny gong in hand, the 64-year-old became the first person to win a Golden Globe for her performance in a Marvel movie. The actress beat out Kerry Condon (The Banshees of Inisherin), Jamie Lee Curtis (Everything Everywhere All At Once), Dolly De Leon (Triangle of Sadness) and Carey Mulligan (She Said) to take home the coveted award.

While Angela achieved an astronomical feat, she used her acceptance speech to pay a heartwarming and tear-jerking tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman, who was the lead in the first Black Panther movie in 2018.

In her speech, Angela Bassett said: “I’ve got to find my words, I’m so nervous my heart is just beating. Jan. 22, 1994, I stood on this stage and accepted the Golden Globe for What’s Love Got To Do With It. The late Toni Morrison said, ‘Your life is already a miracle of chance just waiting for you to order its destiny.’ In order for the destiny to manifest, I think that it requires courage to have faith, it requires patience, and it requires a true sense of yourself.”

She continued: “By the grace of God I stand here I stand here grateful for the Hollywood Foreign Press for giving me this honour along with Wakanda Forever. Grateful for my amazing team who every day each and every one of them work along with me and beside me and on my behalf each and every day. Grateful to my family: Courtney B. Vance, Bronwyn and Slater, I love you from the depths of my heart. My mother always said, ‘Good things come to those who pray.’ I see the truth in that every day as we welcome each new day as a family.

“Weeping may come in the evening, but joy comes in the morning. We embarked on this journey together with love. We mourned, we loved, we healed.”

She went on to add: “We were surrounded each and every day by the light and spirit of Chadwick Boseman. 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 to. We showed the world what Black united leadership [looks like] beyond, behind and in front of the camera.”

Angela concluded, “To the Marvel fans, thank you for embracing this character and showing so much love. We just made history with this nomination and this award. It belongs to all of us.” Chadwick tragically passed away in August 2020 due to colon cancer.