Taye Diggs has shared that Angela Bassett was unimpressed with his performance in Rent before their collaboration on How Stella Got Her Groove Back, highlighting the unexpected start to their professional dynamic. The revelation sheds light on Diggs’s early career challenges and the critical role Bassett later played in his big-screen breakthrough, with the focus keyword Angela Bassett unimpressed with Rent performance framing the narrative.
Bassett’s Lukewarm Reaction to Diggs in Rent
Before taking on the role of Angela Bassett’s Jamaican love interest in the 1998 film How Stella Got Her Groove Back, Taye Diggs starred as a landlord in the celebrated Broadway musical Rent. Despite his hopes, Diggs’s performance did not make a lasting impression on Bassett when she attended a showing. According to Diggs, he learned about her reaction through his agent, who relayed that Bassett was not moved by his portrayal. Bassett’s lack of enthusiasm was attributed by Diggs to the limited significance of his character within the main cast of the musical.
“Angela Bassett went and came to see Rent and she wasn’t impressed,”
—Taye Diggs, Actor
Career Frustrations and Breakthrough Hopes
Diggs described his struggle with feeling under-recognized compared to his fellow Rent cast members, such as Idina Menzel and Jesse Martin, both of whom quickly secured high-profile opportunities after the show. As Diggs recounted, he felt left behind and doubted that his comparatively smaller role in Rent would boost his career in the same way. However, he remained determined to leverage every opportunity that followed.
“Rent was that show where everybody was like, ‘Okay, well, come see these kids in Rent,’”
—Taye Diggs, Actor
“And they were like, ‘Okay, well, we have this young man who’s auditioning.’ ‘How can I see him?’ Okay, come see the show Rent. And I had the smallest role in Rent of the main characters. So I was like, ‘Okay, this isn’t going to be. I’m not going to get any jump off of this. I’ll just ride it out as hard as I can. And then the next thing, that’ll be my jump off. And luckily, that’s what it was, Angela Bassett in How Stella Got Her Groove [Back].”
—Taye Diggs, Actor
A Shift in Perception: From Soap Opera to Silver Screen
Although Diggs’s Rent performance did not impress Bassett, her opinion shifted after watching Diggs in a different context—his role as Sugar Hill on the soap opera Guiding Light. She recognized a new side of him that ultimately got him invited to audition for How Stella Got Her Groove Back. Bassett saw a quality in Diggs’s soap opera character that she felt would suit her film’s romantic lead.
“She saw the soap opera and I was playing this character on Guiding Light called Sugar Hill,”
—Taye Diggs, Actor
“And she saw a little bit of sexiness in Sugar Hill and then she was like, ‘Okay, bring him in.’”
—Taye Diggs, Actor
Delayed Satisfaction and Drive for Greater Success
Landing the Stella role marked Diggs’s feature film debut and a much-anticipated leap in his career. However, he admitted to feeling disappointment about the timing and the fact that peers like Menzel and Martin seemed to reach their milestones earlier. He opened up about his desire for more, referencing aspirations for a career trajectory similar to that of Will Smith, whose crossover appeal inspired him to aim higher.
“For a while, you know, I really wasn’t really enjoying where I was [in my career],”
—Taye Diggs, Actor
“I was expecting to get How Stella Got Her [Groove Back]. I was expecting it. Like, it came too late for me.”
—Taye Diggs, Actor
“Idina [Menzel], she had got a record deal, Jesse Martin had got a TV show,”
—Taye Diggs, Actor
“I was the last one to hit. So I was like, ‘Damn, y’all!’ I’m like, in my head I was like, ‘I’m more talented than all y’all! I’m the last — what’s going on?’”
—Taye Diggs, Actor
“Finally, I got How Stella Got Her Groove Back, and I was like, ‘Okay, now we at the party. Let’s go,’”
—Taye Diggs, Actor
Yet, Diggs revealed that even this success was not enough to satisfy his ambitions. He looked ahead, searching for new roles that would further elevate his profile.
“I was like, ‘Okay, well, what’s next? What’s next?’”
—Taye Diggs, Actor
“Because at the time it was, I was like, ‘Okay, I wanna be the next Will Smith.’ Because I was looking in. You know what I mean? I was like, ‘I want that.’ Because he’s just Black enough where he can be Black, but not threatening to the white people — he could cross over.’”
—Taye Diggs, Actor
Enduring Career and Cultural Impact
Although Diggs did not reach the global status of Will Smith, his career flourished with roles in notable films such as Brown Sugar, Equilibrium, Chicago, The Wood, Go, and the film adaptation of Rent. The journey that began with Angela Bassett unimpressed with Rent performance ultimately helped shape his path, as he pushed forward with persistence and evolving opportunities. His experiences reflect the unpredictable nature of stardom and the significance of perseverance in show business, especially when first impressions don’t always tell the whole story.
