How Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance Got Out of the Friend Zone — and Have Stayed Married for 26 Years (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Courtney B. Vance and Angela Bassett.Photo:Leon Bennett/Getty

Leon Bennett/Getty

Angela BassettandCourtney B. Vancemet in college, but it took years for their romance to bloom.

After meeting at the Yale School of Drama in the ‘80s, Bassett, 65, reconnected with Vance, 63, when she was 38 and had achieved success, from her Oscar-nominated turn playing Tina Turner inWhat’s Love Got to Do with It?to starring opposite Whitney Houston inWaiting to Exhale.

“When I met Courtney, I had known him in drama school, was very enamored of his talents, his gift on stage, and just him as a person, just a real sweetheart, found him to be supportive,” the9-1-1star recalls.

Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance at the 2016 Emmys.Lester Cohen/WireImage

But there was a different spark this time around. “What I really loved so much about him was how supportive and engaging he is of everyone,” Bassett says. “That’s something that really sort of opened my eyes, and I went from friend to being enamored with him in a different kind of way.”

After a few months of dating, the couple got engagedthe night of Vance’s premiere ofThe Preacher’s Wife,and married less than a year later in 1997. They welcomed their twins Bronwyn and Slater, now 18, in 2006 and in 2009, wrote a joint memoir,Friends: A Love Story.

“From the beginning, he was always just a very supportive partner and he continues to be to this day. And our communication continues to be strong, But it always comes back to, he’s always been thoughtful about me,” says Bassett. “His core burns pure.”

Both acknowledge the work it takes to keep a union strong. “It’s kindness and support,” says Vance, who won an Emmy in 2016 for his role inThe People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story. “There are no perfect marriages. It’s work, it’s understanding, it’s apologizing. Our phrase is, ‘If you mess up, fess up.’ If you mess it up, it’s okay. Say it, and it’ll be done with.”

John Russo

With their children soon to be college-bound, Vance calls the twins “a beautiful combination of both of us.” The couple also acknowledges how come far they’ve come since their newlywed days.

Calling Bassett a “lioness” when it comes to her loved ones, Vance invokes an old interview with Charlton Heston and his wife, Lydia Clarke. “At that point, they were married 54 years, and they asked Mrs. Heston, ‘How’s he doing after 54 years of marriage? What’s the secret?’ And she said, ‘He’s getting there.’” Vance laughs at the memory. “That’s it. I’m getting there.”

In 2020, Bassettreflectedon her secret to a long-lasting marriage in an interview with PEOPLE. “I think the important thing is that you gotta marry the right person,” she said. “Make sure you’re both looking in the same direction, basically."

Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance in 2005.Joe Schildhorn/Patrick McMullan

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And following her second Oscar nomination in 2023 forBlack Panther: Wakanda Forever, Bassett told PEOPLE Vancewas always in her corner.

“He understands just empirically everything that I go through,” she said. “He can really give me perspective, because it gets very heady and very busy, but he just keeps me very grounded about the important things, that life is good and we’re all just doing our best to support each other.”

“She’s my better half. I don’t know what I would do without her,” Vance tells PEOPLE today. “And we cover each other.”

For more on Angela Bassett’s life lessons, pick up this week’s issue ofPEOPLE, available on newsstands everywhere.

source: people.com