Angela Bassett Dishes the Top Secret for Her Happy 24-Year Marriage to Courtney B. Vance

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Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance are both considered legends in Hollywood. The couple has been able to maintain longevity not just with their acting careers, but also with their marriage.

Angela and Courtney have been married for 24 years after tying the knot on October 12, 1997. The pair later became parents to fraternal twins Slater and Bronwyn in 2006. The actors initially met while attending the prestigious Yale School of Drama. During a 2007 appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show while promoting their book Friends: A Love Story, Angela stated that during their time at Yale she found Courtney to be “alluring.” That said, Courtney admitted that he didn’t remember his wife, but the two reconnected years later while working in Los Angeles after Angela’s Oscar nomination for the film What’s Love Got to Do With It.

Maintaining successful careers while balancing a marriage and children is undoubtedly a challenge, but Angela and Courtney know that it's all possible. In an interview with People TV, Angela reportedly gushed their secret to marriage.

“Staying together so long, whether in the industry or not, I think the important thing is that you gotta marry the right person. Make sure you're both looking in the same direction, basically," Angela said.

She continued: "You're not clones of each other, but you have similar or closest similar belief systems and, you know, pleasant personalities. Because we all have strengths, strengths and weaknesses, and we want to support one another. But I think also recognizing that we are each individuals, we have our individual dreams and desires and hopes and ways of doing things."

Angela’s advice deserves as many awards as her career and is just as moving as her work as an actor. The couple’s ability to have an authentic partnership and support one another’s accomplishments has turned them into a relationship worth admiring.

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