Pretty much everyone in the world is an awe of Angela Bassett, not only for her seriously impressive acting skills, but also because she appears to have found the fountain of youth.
The gorgeous star turned 60 over the summer (no, that isn’t a typo) and seriously looks half her age. If you've seen her 1998 film How Stella Got Her Groove Back, which was shot more than 30 years ago, you're probably wondering how she has managed to keep the aging process at bay. To stay on her good side, however, you want to avoid asking her why she looks so “young” for her age. In a new interview with Allure, the Black Panther star confesses she’s a little frustrated with the public’s obsession with her ageless secrets.
A few times this past year, including on her 60th birthday, Bassett has shared photos of her swimsuit-clad body, and social media just lost it.
One Twitter user wrote: “I didn’t want to do an ab circuit after my workout... then a friend sent me a picture of @ImAngelaBassett ... long story short I did abs... a lot of them,” to which Bassett replied, “There you go girl!”
In addition to inspiring people to work out, her appearance simply blows them away. “You know you need to STOP telling people that you are 60. You know you not a day over 18!,” joked one of her Instagram followers.
Bassett, who works out twice a week with a trainer, admits she was a little bit shocked by the reaction to one of the photos. “That was surprising,” she tells Allure as part of their Anti-Aging Issue. She explains that people have been asking her what she eats and how she stays fit forever.
“It feels good that they wonder,” she admits, but she likes to laugh about it. One day while shopping at Whole Foods, Bassett's grocery bagger leaned over and whispered “You look so young.” Bassett responded jokingly, “Hearing that is a wonderful thing—seeing as I’m 80!”
At 60, Bassett's career is better than ever. She recently starred in American Horror Story: Coven and Mission: Impossible—Fallout with Tom Cruise. She believes it has something to do with the changing times. “As we advance, 60 is the new 40, or 70 is the new 50,” she says. “It keeps getting pushed.” For Bassett, being a feminist means “being able to do what you want to do and [being] respected for it and paid fairly for it.”
If you want to follow Angela’s anti-aging lead, her advice is truly key: “You have to keep the stress down and the attitude hot,” she explains.
Noted, Miss Bassett.
