Angela Bassett reminisces about harrowing filming experience: 'Emotionally draining'

Angela Bassett revealed the physical and emotional toll of portraying Tina Turner in the 1993 biopic What's Love Got to Do with It. She won an honorary Oscar in January for her work.

Bassett, who received her first Oscar nomination, played the role of Turner, who passed away in 2023 at the age of 83, opposite Laurence Fishburne, who portrayed Ike Turner, the longtime musical partner and abuser of the Proud Mary singer.

"It's not playtime or acting. You assess a part of your spirit in the portrayal when you really connect," Bassett, 65, says in her recent People magazine cover story about playing the more gloomy scenes.

Ike and Tina were married in 1962 and divorced 16 years later. Ike passed away in December 2007 after a cocaine overdose. Following their breakup, Tina spoke candidly and freely about the years of abuse she endured at Ike's hands.

On the set of the biography, Bassett claims that Fishburne, 62, would frequently stand up for her when they had to film the violent scenes, which could take up to 16 hours a day.

"I was newbie on the scene, I don't have so much influence or say," she recalls. "But I had an advocate who would join me by my side and we would say, in a firm and delicate way, 'We got it.'"

In particular, Bassett recalls filming a terrifying sequence in which Ike rapes Tina, pushes her against a fish tank, and chokes her.

"To portray the particular violence of rape was just emotionally draining and would be for anyone," says Bassett.

Ike "knocked" Tina over the back of a couch in another scenario. "I literally wailed, cried for 16 hours, whether I was on-screen or off-screen for my costars," says Bassett. "I probably wouldn't do that today. But during that time we were just so committed through the fire."