Angela Bassett Wins First Emmy Award After 9 Nominations: ‘Feels Really Good To Hold This In My Hands’

Angela Bassett has secured her first Emmy , earning the recognition for Outstanding Narrator for the National Geographic docuseries, “Queens.” Bassett, who earned the award on Saturday, showed gratitude to the entire staff on her special night.

“We don’t work for these, but we receive them for all the hard work that we do,” Bassett said in an interview at the awards show, per Variety . “Of course, it’s not work that you do alone, even though it’s for narration. There’s a whole team that pursued me and believed in me, fought for me, and worked with me to tell this amazing story of females in the wild kingdom, led by an all-female production team, a first in wildlife documentary filmmaking. So that was pretty inspiring to me in and of itself.”

Bassett, who worked on the documentary while taking a break from her role on Fox’s 9-1-1, said she was looking forward to doing something different.

“I was awfully tired after chasing bad guys and being a cop. The idea of an all-female crew in the wilderness telling this story and centering it on the matriarchs and the conservation they were doing — it touched my heart,” Bassett said.

The 66-year-old star was full of gratitude after she earned the recognition.

“This is one of the big ones, and that doesn’t usually happen,” she said. “Whenever you’re acknowledged, I’m just, you know, a girl who just wanted to act. My mentors were way out ahead of me. I just looked to them and got inspiration and hope and, and I just put my focus, my energy and my love to try to make it happen in my life and for my life. So each and every day, I try to remember that first love and when this happens, I appreciate it.”

Bassett, who has earned nine career Emmy nominations, was in shock when she was finally recognized as a winner on Saturday.

“Oh my God. Wow,” the Black Panther star said while accepting her award on stage, per People . “My first Emmy!”

Bassett said she is thankful for the National Geographic and Wildstar Films as well as all the directors, who were all women, as they “brought this incredible story, this incredible docuseries centered on the ferocious and magnificent things in the animal kingdom.”

“I couldn’t be more thrilled and more grateful,” Bassett said. “Thank you, each and every one of you.”

Bassett was still in awe as she went to Instagram to express her feeling about her Emmy.

“My very first #Emmy. It feels really good to hold this in my hands,” she wrote. “Thank you to the @televisionacad for recognizing me and the extraordinary story that the #Queens docuseries tells. So much of my life is spent on camera telling stories, that when I have the opportunity to step back and allow these majestic, powerful creatures to be the center of our attention, I am honored to be their voice.”