SPOILER ALERT: This story contains major spoilers for the ending and mid-credits scene in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” currently playing in theaters.
Angela Bassett, who is generating Oscar buzz for her performance as Ramonda in Marvel’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” shares her feelings about her character’s death. Her tone was good during the discussion, but the feeling was clear that she wasn’t happy when she first read the script from Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole.
During an interview with Variety For an upcoming episode of the Awards Circuit Podcast, Bassett reveals for the first time that she shot a scene with young actor Divine Love Konadu-Sun, who plays a character revealed to be T’Challa’s son (the late Chadwick Boseman) and Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o). However, Bassett’s scene with the young actor was cut from the final version of the film.
“I filmed a scene,” Bassett says. “I did, but you know – cut the room, readjust it and reshape it. What does Ramonda say? Oh, ‘Shuri, there’s something I need to tell you.’ »
Bassett recalled parts of the scene that were cut but stopped short of going into detail. “I went to Haiti, of course. I met him, I was introduced… but it ended up on the floor of the editing room.
She further explains that it was cut “to make it a surprise for the audience and for Shuri. It was the right way to go. Perfect to get into.
In the deleted scene, she reveals that Nakia introduces Ramonda to Toussaint as her “Nanna”. Doesn’t that break your heart? She later describes young Konadu-Sun as a “precious little angel”.
Art Streiber for Variety
She also commented that she learned of Ramonda’s death during the first script reading.
“I wasn’t happy about that,” Bassett says. “I was not happy. I was so shocked. I was… just mortified. You know, it’s like they gave you the greatest gift, and they snatch far. Part of me was like, ‘Okay, don’t say anything, be strong.’ Then the other part of me said… ‘I just have to let him know. That I don’t like it at all — and why? – and don’t do that. The love for Ramonda was so real and sincere, but you know, they still kill the heart and the soul.
Directed by Ryan Coogler, the sequel to the Best Picture of 2019 nominee tells a harrowing tale of grief and recovery as T’Challa’s family – played by the late Boseman – adjusts to a world facing its own dead.
Bassett’s only previous Oscar nod was for her role as Tina Turner in “What’s Love Got to Do With It” (1993). Notably, no actor was nominated for an Oscar for performance in Marvel Cinematic, despite the DC Comics adaptations scoring wins starring Heath Ledger (“The Dark Knight”) and Joaquin Phoenix (“Joker”). There have been some apparent “close calls”, such as Michael B. Jordan’s turn as Killmonger in the first “Black Panther”.
For the fourth week in a row, “Wakanda Forever” topped the domestic box office, bringing its North American total to $393.7 million.
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