Angela Bassett is a champion on screen--the awards season of 2022 and 2023 proved that with the legendary actress being nominated and winning a number of awards for her role in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. But Bassett is also a champion off-screen with her family life. In March 2023, her twins joined Bassett and her husband Courtney B. Vance at the Oscars. Bronwyn and the Black Panther star wowed in coordinating purple gowns, while Slater and his dad looked handsome in all-black ensembles.
After seven years of trying IVF, Bassett and her husband welcomed fraternal twins Bronwyn Golden Vance and Slater Josiah Vance, 16, on Jan. 27, 2006, via surrogate.
"I had a dream about seven years ago that we were going to have twins. I didn't know how it was going to happen," Vance told Oprah in 2007. Bassett added, "Just standing there together, holding each other with the realization that this is the moment that we've been working toward, praying for … [it's a dream come true]."
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Even though Bassett and Vance both have established careers in acting, the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever star believes this may not necessarily be the case for her kids.
“They want to follow the success, but whether it be acting, I don’t get any clues to that right now,” Bassett, 64, said to PEOPLE while attending the 2023 BAFTA Tea Party on Saturday (Jan. 14). “It’s a little music, a little sports. But whatever they want to do, I support them.”
On Who's the Better Parent
When it comes to parenting, Bassett has referred to herself as the "good cop," while her husband Vance is "usually pretty calm but he is consistent."
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“He is the definition of a helicopter parent,” Bassett explains of her husband on Glamour.com.
“I have always told them, ‘I am your good time. Mama’s your good time. Because Daddy’s your helicopter,’” Bassett says. While the Black Panther star didn’t elaborate on what a “good time” with Mom looks like, it’s not hard to imagine, oh, I don’t know, red-carpet premieres for Marvel movies, perhaps?
“They’re awesome young people, by and large, very kind, very thoughtful, very appreciative,” Bassett said of her kids. But just because they’re the children of celebrities doesn’t mean they didn’t have to work as hard as the next 18-month-old: According to Bassett, Slater and Bronwyn were making their own beds at just a year-and-a-half—which is more than what most 18-year-olds accomplish on a daily basis.
On Her Daughter, Bronwyn
When she was younger, Bronwyn used to mimic her mother often — especially when it came to disciplining her brother Slater.
"I'm just speaking from my experience, but my daughter, from the time she was a little one, was always sort of looking to me for the example of what to do and how to be," Bassett told Vulture in 2019. "I have twins, and if I told her brother something like, 'Slater, put that down. Slater, don't stand on that. Slater —' she would be my little copy. If he would do something, she would say, 'Slater, put that down! Slater, don't stand on that!' She was my little copycat!"
As Bronwyn and her brother grew up, they both found an interest in music. "They both play the piano and rap and play guitar, so they have a little musical interest that I drill into them, that I insist upon!" she told E! on the 2021 Golden Globes red carpet.
The actress also noted that Bronwyn and Slater both enjoyed her 2020 animated film Soul. "But I thought maybe they wouldn't get into it because it's jazz ... but surprisingly they loved it," she added. "They got a lot of the themes, a lot of the ideas from it and really appreciated it."
At just 16 years old, Bronwyn has also shown a passion for giving back. In January 2022, Bronwyn began raising funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). The campaign raised more than $60,000 within seven weeks, winning Bronwyn the 2022 Los Angeles Team Member of the Year title.
On Sibling Rivalry
Although Slater and Bronwyn are close now, they weren't always best friends growing up. According to Bassett, when both kids were young, they bickered and argued with one another constantly.
"Oh gosh, they fight. They ask me constantly, 'Mommy, are you happy?' Well, he asks me that," Bassett told Access Hollywood in 2013. "And I say, 'If we are not bickering, punching or fighting, then yes, I'm happy. But every day, we're bickering, punching and fighting!' "
Even so, Slater still protected his sister when he could.
"She's big heart — she loves her brother — and he protects her in school … If she's having some trouble he's right in there for her, 'Don't you talk back to my sister!' " Bassett shared. "But at home with mom, it's the safe place to just act a fool."
As a teenager, Slater turned his hand to music. He released his first album, "Journey 2 Forever," in 2021. The following year, Slater released an EP titled "Holehearted."
On Parenting Pressure
“You know, it’s so easy to be hard on yourself. Don’t be so, so hard on yourself, because being hard on yourself is just you trying to be perfect, trying to be the best that you possibly can be. You know, take stock and remember those things that really ignite your passion. That make you happy. I didn’t get a real clear sense of who my mother was until after she passed away, and would read letters, or people came up to me how she spoke into their lives and what she meant to them, or how enthusiastic she was."
"I knew she could be fun in those moments that I would hear her laugh laboriously until her tears ran down her cheeks. I really sort of loved that. But you want so much for your kids when you’re a single mom on a fixed income and with a 12th grade education ... it’s that you don’t want for your kids, and that’s why she pushed us, but when you’re in it as a child you really don’t understand these things about your parents. So enjoy who you are, enjoy your kids, and realize they’re gonna do some good things, they’re gonna make some mistakes, but it’ll all turn out as it’s supposed to.”
