Taye Diggs Says Angela Bassett Wasn’t Impressed by Him in ‘Rent’ — Here’s Why

Taye Diggs says that Angela Bassett wasn’t particularly impressed with his career-making role in Rent. 

The actor sat down with Keke Palmer for the July 1 episode of her podcast Baby, This Is Keke Palmer to discuss the ups and downs of his decades-long career. During their conversation, Diggs, 54, revealed that Bassett, 66, wasn’t blown away by his role in the Broadway show, which opened in 1996.

“Angela Bassett came to see Rent and she wasn’t impressed. She wasn’t impressed,” he said, sharing that Bassett had specifically come to see him because he was in the running to play her love interest in the 1998 romantic comedy How Stella Got Her Groove Back.

The actor explained that his agent ultimately told him Bassett wasn’t amzed by his performance, which Diggs attributed to the fact that his character didn’t have a tremendous amount of stage time.

“I had the smallest role in Rent of the main characters,” he recalled.

However, The Wood actor said he ended up catching Bassett’s attention anyway because she had seen him in the soap opera Guiding Light.

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“She saw the soap opera — and I was playing this character on Guiding Light called Sugar Hill —  and she saw a little bit of sexiness in Sugar Hill, and then she was like, ‘Okay, bring him in.’ ” 

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Diggs ultimately landed the role of Bassett’s love interest, which paved the way for his film career. However, the actor shared that at the time, he felt as though his big movie break had come too late.

“I was expecting to get how Stella Got Her Groove Back. I was expecting. Like, it came too late for me. I was in Rent. Idina [Menzel], she had got a record deal, Jesse Martin had got a TV show. I was the last one to hit,” he said.

“So I was like, ‘Damn, y’all!’ In my head I was like, ‘I’m more talented than all y’all! I’m the last? What’s going on?’ ” he continued with a laugh. “And then I got How Stella Got Her Groove Back, and it was like, ‘Okay, now we’re at the party. Let’s go!’ ”

At another point in the interview, The Best Man star shared that despite a career filled with fan-favorite movies, he wasn’t always able to appreciate his success in the moment.

“I was so focused on getting somewhere that I never really took the time to appreciate where I was,” he explained.

Diggs went on to say that his vision of his career — which he initially imagined would always be in movies — evolved over time, and he eventually began to appreciate television as a creatively fulfulling medium as well.

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“You could be more in control. You could really sink into a character, you know, go to the job every day. You know all the cast members. You have a rapport with the writers, the producers. So it was less stressful. It was less mercurial than film. That was one of the first changes. Like, ‘Oh, I wanted to be Will Smith … but this feels good right here,’ ” he said.

“And being able to go to the writers and having input,” Diggs added. “With TV, you have more of that power.”