Angela Bassett and husband Courtney B. Vance are both considering returning to Broadway as they prepare to become empty nesters when their 18-year-old twins leave for college.
Courtney, who will next be seen on screen in Ryan Murphy's Grotesquerie, shared that the two actors have "gradually been preparing" for the moment, spending lots of time at home and refusing to take projects that see them away for months at a time, including Broadway plays; Angela's last appearance on the stage was in The Mountaintop in 2011 and 2012, and Courtney appeared alongside Tom Hanks in The Lucky Guy in 2013.
"We've tried not to do something so drastic as a Broadway play and be away for months at a time, so we've been gearing up for this and I don't think it's going to be too hard," Courtney told HELLO! before adding: "But it's time to get back."
Courtney and Angela have toured 26 colleges with their twins, and Courtney, 63, continued: "They tell me when you drop your young people off, don't go home, go on a cruise," – and when HELLO! reminded Courtney about the cruise explosion in the season seven premiere of Angela's ABC series 9-1-1 he quipped: "Maybe a nice walk!"
Angela, 65, and Courtney welcomed the twins, Bronwyn and Slater, in 2003 via surrogacy, after seven years of IVF, a representative for the couple revealed at the time.
The twins stay out of the spotlight, but joined their parents at the Academy Awards in 2023 when Angela was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her work in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever; she was also nominated in 1994 for her work as Tina Turner in What's Love Got To Do With It?
They also made an appearance at the Governor's Awards in 2024 when Angela received an honorary statue.
Angela recently opened up on the 'mom guilt' she often feels for working long hours on 9-1-1, but told People magazine: "I hope that what will come out of that is that [my kids] see a mama, a woman, a Black woman achieving her dreams, having success.
"They’ll see that hard work pays off. And they’ll be about that life for themselves.”
9-1-1, which is also a Ryan Murphy production, will return for season seven on March 14 on ABC, after six years on Fox.
The season seven premiere titled, "Abandon ‘Ships" follows Angela's Sergeant Athena Grant and her husband Captain Bobby Nash as they "set off on their honeymoon cruise, but when duty calls, their vacation is put on hold