Angela Bassett was right there when Austin Butler was bracing himself for the Best Actor announcement at the Oscars.
The actress told of reaching for his hand in a short essay that ran with a TIME 100 tribute to Butler that was published today.
Butler was vying for Best Actor honors with Colin Farrell, Bill Nighy, Paul Mescal, and Brendan Fraser, the latter the eventual winner.
“On the evening of the Oscars, with Austin seated next to me, I understood intimately what he felt when it was time to learn if he would climb those stairs to the stage,” Bassett wrote. “So, I took his hand and held it softly as the winner was announced. Although his name wasn’t called, Austin is no less a winner.”
Bassett herself was nominated for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Much was written about her apparent disappointment when her name wasn’t called. But she was far more understanding of what not winning can mean.
The Butler loss isn’t the end, but a beginning for Butler, who can shed his “Elvis” persona now.
“The time had come for Austin to say goodbye to Elvis as he began to embrace an infinite universe of possibilities as an actor. I can’t wait to see what he brings us next.”
Butler and Bassett met on the awards circuit and quickly hit it off.
“Despite all that swirled around him, Austin opened his heart to new friends,” Bassett said. “I was fortunate to be one of them.”
Bassett, who was Oscar-nominated for her portrayal of Tina Tuner in the 1993 film What’s Love Got To Do With It, knows how hard it can be to shed a powerful characteriation.
“A lot goes into an actor’s finding their way into an icon, not pretending to be them, but offering a perspective on the artist as we perform slices of their story,” Bassett wrote. “You walk away from that set forever changed. Your hope is that when people see the film, they don’t see you — they see an artist’s journey through a different lens. Austin accomplished this with a brilliantly nuanced performance.”
