Angela Bassett on Joining TV Presidents Club & Why She'd Never Do Politics (Exclusive)

Angela Bassett chatted with “Extra’s” Mona Kosar Abdi at the NYC premiere of her new political conspiracy thriller “Zero Day.”

In the limited series, a former U.S. president (Robert De Niro) is called out of retirement to help the current president (Bassett) after a crippling cyberattack on the nation.

Bassett said they wanted to “hit the perfect note,” saying, “I think we struck it.”

Angela reflected on joining the ranks of actors and actresses who have played TV presidents, sharing, “That's a little club in and of itself… rarified air… I'm glad to be a part of it.”

In real life, however, politics is not for her!

The actress insisted, “No, it's not for me, too stressful for me. What I do is stressful enough. They can have that I'll stay in my lane.”

Bassett and husband Courtney B. Vance share 19-year-old twins Bronwyn and Slater, and she said if they were interested in political careers, she’d support them.

“These days they're impressive… all young people are,” Angela said. “I think they can do absolutely anything they put their minds to, and I love to see them succeed and grow so if that's… what appeals to them, it appeals to Mama.”

In a separate interview, Mona spoke with De Niro and Lizzy Caplan, who plays his congresswoman daughter.

De Niro talked about how good it was to reunite with Bassett 24 years after “The Score.”

The actor, who spoke out in support of Kamala Harris during her presidential run, noted that he believes seeing Angela in the role of president can “definitely” help change public perception about a Commander in Chief.

Caplan agreed, “I really hope so. I wish that it didn't seem so far away for a woman to take that office. It's absurd to me.” 

Plus, Lizzy spoke about the scary reality that a cyberattack could actually happen, admitting, “It keeps me up at night thinking about things like that, of course. I don't know how you could not."

She added, "We put so much trust in these institutions that if… somebody hacked the banks and everybody's bank accounts were totally drained, who would fix that problem?”

She also pointed out, “Depending on which channel you're watching and where you're getting your news, you would believe a completely different story — and that is terrifying, and I think our show holds a mirror up to that.”