Angela Bassett recalls holding Austin Butler's hand when he lost the Oscar

Angela Bassett is sharing the sweet way that she supported her friend Austin Butler while at the 2023 Oscars.

The actress, who was sitting next to Butler during the event, recalled reaching for his hand when his category was announced in a TIME 100 tribute to the Elvis star published today. Butler was nominated in the Best Actor category alongside Colin Farrell, Bill Nighy, Paul Mescal, and Brendan Fraser, who ended up taking home the award.

"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. So, I took his hand and held it softly as the winner was announced," Bassett wrote. "Although his name wasn't called, Austin is no less a winner."

Instead, Bassett said that the loss was simply the start of a greater adventure for Butler. "The time had come for Austin to say goodbye to Elvis as he began to embrace an infinite universe of possibilities as an actor," she noted. "I can't wait to see what he brings us next."

Bassett, who was also nominated that evening for her performance in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, said that she first met Butler on the awards circuit and that they struck up a fast friendship. "We connected in a fleeting moment, one of many when we would share a hug and warm words," she wrote. "Despite all that swirled around him, Austin opened his heart to new friends. I was fortunate to be one of them."

She also praised "all the work" that Butler put into his performance as the blue suede shoe-sporting King of Rock 'n' Roll in Baz Luhrmann's 2022 biopic. After all, Bassett went through a similar experience embodying Tina Turner in the 1993 film What's Love Got to Do With It, for which she was also nominated for an Oscar.

"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. You walk away from that set forever changed," she wrote. "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."

In February, Bassett compared her experience playing Tina Turner — and how she found herself inadvertently carrying on the performance's mannerisms — to Butler's ongoing struggle to drop his Elvis-inspired accent.

"Tina's laugh and the way she spoke took over. It took over, not as long as Elvis — maybe about four months after," she said at the time. "You so lived and breathed and began to see life through their perspective. You had to. They're a part of you. I think that's what's going on with him."

However, she maintained that it was imperative to "bid it farewell" so that one could move onto bigger, better things going forward. "You got an opportunity and you hit it out of left field. So it takes a moment to get back to regular you," she concluded. "But you're different after this moment. Now you're Austin, who did that great performance."

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Related content:

• Angela Bassett weighs in on Austin Butler's struggle to lose Elvis accent: 'You have to bid it farewell'
• Angela Bassett earns Marvel's first acting Oscar nomination for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
• Austin Butler is finally 'getting rid' of his Elvis accent: 'I have probably damaged my vocal cords'