Angela Bassett gets the Green light to Jump the Broom

Angela Bassett refuses to rest on her laurels or hang out at home.  “I don’t need a break from anything,” says Bassett at a Beverly Hills hotel. “I get enough time off without taking it.” Her schedule indicates, otherwise.

, which opens May 6 in Toronto, Halifax and Windsor, she co-stars in the superhero flick,

, set for release June 17.  She’s also featured in the Reese Witherspoon action comedy,

, out later in the year. And she just finished,

, a TV pilot.

, Bassett plays the wealthy mother of the bride (Paula Patton) hiding a few secrets from her daughter. That’s just as the groom (Laz Alonso), his outspoken working-class single mother (Loretta Devine) and her surrogate clan converge on Martha’s Vineyard for the elaborate wedding.

Besides veterans Bassett and Devine, the ensemble includes some other noted performers. Comic Mike Epps steals scenes as the irrepressible hustler Willie Earl. Tasha Smith has some good bits as best friend Shonda, who never needs to be asked what she’s thinking.

’s Julie Bowen who shows up as the uptight wedding planner.

(referring to a tradition of jumping over a broom at the end of the ceremony) came together after many stalls. It took the Bassett signing to start things happening a few years ago.

“You begin the conversation at a higher level with Angela attached,” says director Akil, making his film debut.  Soon after the Oscar-nominated actress came on board there was, indeed, a cast, a US$6.5-million budget and support from Bishop T. D. Jakes (who appears in the movie) for the “faith-based” family comedy.

All things considered, Bassett says she was pleasantly pleased by how quickly the cast came together as friends and collaborators. The camaraderie helped them endure the annoying swarms of mosquitoes that set upon them during filming near Lunenburg, N.S., which substituted for Martha’s Vineyard.

“It really was an elegant group of actors despite those bugs,” Bassett says.  “When you start out, you don’t know for sure what will happen, but they were all bringing some serious talent. I had a good feeling about the movie right from the start.”

.

A graduate of Yale University’s drama program, she’s always set high standards.

. She established herself in

and

opposite Denzel Washington.

“There’s no question Angela’s well respected, and she makes a big difference when she’s around,” Akil says. “But she does it quietly.”

takes, did the veteran speak up. “Sometimes, I had to use my years and say, ’Calm down’ so we could get a scene finished.”

shoot, in and around New Orleans, was less familiar to her.

In the Martin Campbell-directed film, she plays government agent Dr. Amanda Waller opposite Ryan Reynolds’ crime fighter Green Lantern, Blake Lively’s Carol Ferris and villain Hector Hammond defined by Peter Sarsgaard.

To put it simply, she says she was “out of her element” and in awe of the arrangements to accommodate the computer-generated effects. “It was my first time doing this kind of movie and it was a lot of fun,” Bassett says of filming on empty “green screen” sound stages. “I can’t wait to see what my stuff looks like.”