Angela Bassett Recalls 'Emotionally Draining' 16-Hour Days Filming Violent Scenes in 1993 Tina Turner Biopic (Exclusive)

"I literally wailed, cried for 16 hours, whether I was on-screen or off-screen for my costars," Bassett says

Angela Bassett says getting into character as Tina Turner for the 1993 biopic What's Love Got to Do with It was both physically and emotionally challenging, especially as she recreated the more tragic parts of the late music icon's life.

Bassett starred as Turner, who died in 2023 at the age of 83, in the Brian Gibson-directed film alongside Laurence Fishburne, who played the "Proud Mary" singer's longtime musical partner and serial abuser, Ike Turner.

"It's not playtime or acting. You assess a part of your spirit in the portrayal when you really connect," Bassett, 65, says in this week's PEOPLE cover story of the graphic scenes.

Tina and Ike, whodied of a cocaine overdosein December 2007, were married in 1962, divorcing 16 years later. After their split, Tina was candid and open publicly about the years of abuse she suffered from Ike.

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Bassett says that Fishburne, 62, would often be her advocate on set of the biopic while they shot the violent scenes — a process that sometimes took 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 g -

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ot it.'"

Bassett particularly remembers filming a harrowing scene in the movie when Ike chokes Tina, pushing her up against a fish tank and raping her. "To portray the particular violence of rape was just emotionally draining and would be for anyone," says Bassett.

In another scene, Ike "knocked" Tina over the back of a couch. "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."

Despite the difficulty of shooting What's Love Got to Do with It, which earned Bassett her first Oscar nomination, the actress calls the film "a real watershed moment in my life. And I knew in the making of it that it had the possibility of changing my life and it could change the trajectory of my career."

Following her second Academy Award nomination for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Bassett was awarded an honorary Oscar in January, an experience she shared with her family by her side.

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.

If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.

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