The award-winning actress wants older adults to protect their health this season...and, shares her fitness routine secrets.
Angela Bassett has built a career playing powerful, resilient women on screen—from What’s Love Got to Do with It to Black Panther and the newest Mission Impossible early this summer—and off screen, she’s channeling that same strength into her health and advocacy. The 67-year-old actress recently partnered with GSK’s Sideline RSV campaign to raise awareness of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a serious illness that hospitalizes more than 177,000 older adults each year. With her late mother’s health struggles top of mind, Bassett is urging people to talk with their doctors about prevention and protection.
That focus on proactive health extends into her own daily rituals. Ahead, Bassett also tells The Healthy by Reader’s Digest how she’s taken up Pilates and boxing—two workouts she says give her energy and community—while also embracing the recovery side of wellness with infrared sauna sessions she often shares with her daughter or sister. And when it comes to nutrition, she keeps it simple with a mantra that doubles as motivation and discipline: “We’re VIP.”
The Healthy by Reader’s Digest: Angela, you’re partnering with GSK’s Sideline RSV campaign to raise awareness about the risks of RSV for older adults. Why did this cause feel especially personal and important for you to speak out about?
Angela Bassett: As we age, as we mature, being proactive in our healthcare can be a lifesaver for so many of us. I’ve spoken in the past about my loved ones, including my late mother, who battled a number of health issues—heart disease, COPD, type 2 diabetes. It was during that time that health and prevention really became a priority for me.
As a mother, I always heard a lot about RSV in babies and infants, but I later learned that each year, approximately 177,000 older adults are hospitalized due to severe RSV, and about 14,000 die from it. If you’re 65 or older, or have underlying health conditions, you can be as vulnerable as babies and infants. These opposite ends of the spectrum are very vulnerable populations, and RSV can be extremely serious—even fatal. The solution, as this campaign says, can be very simple: have a conversation with your doctor, understand your risk, and determine whether vaccination is appropriate for you.
The Healthy: You’ve built a career playing powerful and resilient women. How do you bring that same strength to the way you approach your own health and wellbeing in your sixties?
Angela Bassett: You’re right—I’ve had the opportunity to play some powerful, resilient women, and it has made for a wonderful career. Portraying their lives has inspired me, and in order to keep going and keep having those opportunities, I have to take care of myself. That can be challenging in this day and age—long hours, long days, lots of stress. But you have to prioritize yourself, even if that means being a little selfish. Whether it’s getting your rest, eating properly, or spending time with loved ones who pour into you, you have to do what fuels you. We give so much of ourselves, but if we don’t take care of ourselves, we can’t keep experiencing these beautiful moments with the people who matter most.
The Healthy: What’s one self-care ritual you refuse to skip—whether you’re traveling, on set, or at home?
Angela Bassett: Definitely sleeping and eating well. I’ll sometimes skip a workout with my trainer, but I’ll replace it with other things I enjoy, like Pilates classes. I love the movement, the community, the encouragement—we’re taking care of ourselves together. I’ve also started boxing classes. It’s great cardio, it’s strength training, and it’s not easy—but I enjoy the effort and the sweat. Honestly, relaxing too much actually depletes me, so I feel more energized when I move. And who doesn’t enjoy a massage or an infrared sauna? That’s one of my great pleasures. I always take my daughter or my sister along with me so we can sweat it out together.
The Healthy: You’re also known for your discipline, whether in fitness or your career longevity. How has that discipline evolved for you over the years, especially as you just celebrated your 67th birthday?
Angela Bassett: Thank you! Aging is something we’re lucky to experience—we don’t want to cut it short, but we also don’t want to think about it in limiting terms. There’s nothing we can’t do, especially now that we have wisdom and experience behind us. That said, sometimes we have to pivot. Maybe I can’t run five miles at the same speed I used to, but I can walk, I can do intervals, and I can keep pushing myself while still being gentle with myself. That’s how I keep growing.
The Healthy: Great perspective—you keep it joyful. But for an actress, there’s so much pressure to look strong and be able to withstand grueling shoots like Black Panther. How do you keep the joy in it all?
Angela Bassett: Especially as an actress, coming up in this business, we were always talking about diets, because you’re either on stage or in front of a camera. It’s our aesthetic. But at the end of the day, we’re all beautiful human beings. For me, it’s about being healthy and watching what I put into my body. I tease my sister sometimes—if she reaches for processed or high-sugar foods, I’ll say, “Girl, don’t eat that. We’re VIP. We only put the best in our body.” Now she says it all the time. If she’s about to eat something not so good, she’ll stop herself and say, “Wait, I’m VIP.”
The Healthy: We’re stealing that!
Angela Bassett: You just say, “Oh, that’s not good enough for me.”
The Healthy: Perfect health mantra. You’re balancing blockbuster roles, TV commitments, and now health advocacy. What projects should we have on our radar this fall?
Angela Bassett: We just started filming season nine of 9-1-1, which will premiere October 9 on ABC. It’s always exciting because we pull stories straight from the headlines—and sometimes even from my own life. I’m also always looking for other opportunities—plays, documentaries, or advocacy work like this. Being here in New York to raise awareness about RSV feels very meaningful to me, especially for older Americans.
The Healthy: You mentioned that sometimes scripts mirror your own life. Can you share an example from 9-1-1?
Angela Bassett: Well, my character’s son, Harry, recently made a potentially life-altering decision about his education and identity. And my own son, who just finished his first year of college, came home and said, “Mom, I’m grown.” So whether it’s my television son or my real son at 19, they both think they’re completely grown and that every decision they make is the right one. I keep reminding them—your brain doesn’t fully mature until at least 25. Now I’ve even heard 30 for boys! But I’ll give them 25. Until then, check in with mom and dad before making life-altering decisions.
The Healthy: Lastly, is there anything else you’d like to share about prevention, resilience, or taking care of ourselves?
Angela Bassett: Please visit SidelineRSV.com for more information and tips about how to talk with your doctor or pharmacist about vaccination. It’s so important.
For daily wellness updates, subscribe to The Healthy by Reader’s Digest newsletter and follow The Healthy on Facebook and Instagram. Keep reading:
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This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
