How Angela Bassett Got Glammed for Her Historic Golden Globes Win

“The late Toni Morrison said that your life is already a miracle of chance, just waiting for you to order its destiny,” Angela Bassett told the audience last night as she made Golden Globes history winning best supporting actress performance in a motion picture for her role in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The first actor to be nominated in an acting category for a Marvel film, winning the Globe felt doubly historic. Lighting up the stage in floor-length silver sequins, Bassett referenced standing there nearly 30 years earlier holding the Best Actress award for What’s Love Got to Do With It. Bassett noted that patience and a true sense of self were essential for manifesting that destiny. “It’s not easy because the path is circuitous, and it has many unexpected detours,” she said. Just hours before making history, she’d been getting ready with her longtime beauty team, who’ve spent decades by her side.  

“My glam team and I were excited to do something a little different, harkening back to a time in old Hollywood,” says Bassett of the “soft, elegant, and big glam” look they chose for the moment. Setting up at the Beverly Hilton, Bassett’s makeup artist, D’Andre Michael, and hairstylist, Randy Stodghill, came prepared, and the electricity in the air was palpable. “All of us were a bag of nerves,” Michael admits. To eliminate any preceremony tension, he lit a few Floral Street candles and started Bassett’s beauty prep with a lymphatic facial massage, and applied Chanel Le Lift Pro Concentré Contours while setting the mood. “We had an awesome playlist going in the background for the afternoon,” says Bassett. “It was largely what we call ‘old school’ soul and R&B. It was a nice, calm vibe, which helped before I had to hit a very busy red carpet.”

Once they laid eyes on the silver sequin turtleneck gown, Stodghill and Michael began discussing the beauty look with Bassett. “The best is having a client that allows you to create,” Stodghill says of their multi-decade relationship. Michael agrees. “Randy and I have been friends and working together since 1996, so we could do this blindfolded and not speak one word and end up in sync,” he jokes. To capture a modern take on old Hollywood elegance, Michael describes their inspiration as “a woman that finds power in her femininity, embraces grace and confidence, and makes amazing choices that push her further in life.”

After Stodghill created the glamorous curls for Bassett’s sideswept lob with a one-and-a-half-inch curling iron and Navy treatment serum, finishing spray, and texture spray, Michael focused on giving her a luminous glow. For flawless dimension, he used different tones of Chanel’s Sublimage Le Teint Ultimate Radiance-Generating Cream Foundation in 121 Beige Doré and 132 Beige Rosé. Then, for a “winged cat eye” effect, he swept shades of Ombre Première Longwear Powder Eyeshadow in 10 Flesh “over the entire eyelid” and 24 Chocolate Brown “in the crease only” before lining upper lashes with Stylo Yeux Waterproof Eyeliner, and applying a coat of Le Volume De Chanel Mascara.   

To enhance Bassett’s infamous bone structure, a dusting of Joues Contraste Powder Blush was followed by a few drops of Chanel Les Beige Sheer Healthy Glow Highlighting Fluid, which Michael “applied to highlight cheekbones” for a subtle touch of shine. The true sparkle was thanks to a veil of Coco Mademoiselle Pearly Body Gel, scented with the house’s best-selling fragrance, for gleaming skin that played off of the gown’s silver pailletes.

During the ceremony, the camera panned to beauty shots of Bassett, the picture of timeless glamour and iconic Hollywood beauty. The night’s host, Jerrod Carmichael, even took his last moments of air time to shout out how gorgeous she looked. Soon, Bassett was back with her team. “We toasted with champagne once I returned to the suite after the show,” she says. “It was a wonderful end to the night. I felt like a queen!”