Angela Bassett almost entered the history books as the first black
woman ever to win a Best Actress Oscar, for her gut-busting performance
as Tina Turner. Almost. She coulda been a contender. That performance
was presaged by finely-crafted work for John Sayles in Passion Fish and
City Of Hope, and strong performances for John Singleton (Boys N The
Hood) and Spike Lee (Malcolm X) – all within two years. She's gone from
kicking Ralph Fiennes' butt in Strange Days to playing second fiddle to
Meryl Streep in Music of the Heart, but she'll be saving the world again
soon.
