Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance are parents to two kids

Photo: David Crotty/Patrick McMullan

Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance are undoubtedly a power couple. They’re both award-winning actors, philanthropists and loving parents.

After seven years of IVF, Bassett and her husband welcomed fraternal twins Bronwyn Golden Vance and Slater Josiah Vance, 18, on Jan. 27, 2006, via surrogate.

“I had a dream about seven years ago that we were going to have twins. I didn’t know how it was going to happen,” Vance told Oprah in 2007. Bassett added, “Just standing there together, holding each other with the realization that this is the moment that we’ve been working toward, praying for … [it’s a dream come true].”

After she lost the award for Best Supporting Actress at the 2023 Academy Awards for her role in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Bassett’s kids — who joined her and Vance at the ceremony — were “supremely disappointed.”

“It was a teachable moment just to, you know, to carry yourself, hold yourself, go to the parties with grace,” Bassett said during a March 2024 appearance on Live with Kelly and Mark. “And know that, just keep one foot in front of the other, keep going, keep following your dreams. Because 24 hours, what a difference a day makes.”

When it comes to parenting, Bassett has referred to herself as the “good cop,” while her husband Vance is “usually pretty calm but he is consistent.”

Being a working mom is no easy feat. In February 2024, Bassett told PEOPLE that she often feels guilty about the long hours required to shoot a TV show or film.

“I hope that what will come out of that is that they see a mama, a woman, a Black woman achieving her dreams, having success,” she said of her kids. “They’ll see that hard work pays off. And they’ll be about that life for themselves.”

Here’s everything to know about Angela Bassett’s kids, daughter Bronwyn and son Slater.

Bronwyn Golden Vance, 18Angela Basset Instagram

Bassett and Vance’s daughter Bronwyn was 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 via surrogate on Jan. 27, 2006.

When she was younger, Bronwyn used to mimic her mother often — especially when it came to disciplining her brother Slater.

“I’m just speaking from my experience, but my daughter, from the time she was a little one, was always sort of looking to me for the example of what to do and how to be,” Bassett told Vulture in 2019. “I have twins, and if I told her brother something like, ‘Slater, put that down. Slater, don’t stand on that. Slater —’ she would be my little copy. If he would do something, she would say, ‘Slater, put that down! Slater, don’t stand on that!’ She was my little copycat!”

As Bronwyn and her brother grew up, they both found an interest in music. “They both play the piano and rap and play guitar, so they have a little musical interest that I drill into them, that I insist upon!” she told E! on the 2021 Golden Globes red carpet.

The actress also noted that Bronwyn and Slater both enjoyed her 2020 animated film Soul. “But I thought maybe they wouldn’t get into it because it’s jazz … but surprisingly they loved it,” she added. “They got a lot of the themes, a lot of the ideas from it and really appreciated it.”

Bronwyn has also shown a passion for giving back. In January 2022, Bronwyn began raising funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). The campaign raised more than $60,000 within seven weeks, winning Bronwyn the 2022 Los Angeles Team Member of the Year title.

Slater Josiah Vance, 18Jerritt Clark/Getty

Like his twin sister, Slater was 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 via surrogate on Jan. 27, 2006.

Although Slater and Bronwyn are close now, they weren’t always best friends growing up. According to Bassett, when both kids were young, they bickered and argued with one another constantly.

“Oh gosh, they fight. They ask me constantly, ‘Mommy, are you happy?’ Well, he asks me that,” Bassett told Access Hollywood in 2013. “And I say, ‘If we are not bickering, punching or fighting, then yes, I’m happy. But every day, we’re bickering, punching and fighting!’ ”

Even so, Slater still protected his sister when he could.

“She’s big heart — she loves her brother — and he protects her in school … If she’s having some trouble he’s right in there for her, ‘Don’t you talk back to my sister!’ ” Bassett shared. “But at home with mom, it’s the safe place to just act a fool.”

As a teenager, Slater turned his hand to music. He released his first album, “Journey 2 Forever,” in 2021. The following year, Slater released an EP titled “Holehearted” — an accomplishment that’s made both of his parents proud.

“Folks, he’s done it again,” Vance captioned an Instagram post featuring a song from the album. “A big congratulations to my son @slater.vance and his producer @wcab1_music for their second major production, Holehearted.”

Despite his love for music (and Bassett’s insistent “nudging”), Bassett revealed that neither of her kids had seen her iconic 1993 film, What’s Love Got to Do With It. “Let them discover it,” Bassett told PEOPLE. “Let their friends discover it … maybe [then] I’d get some more respect around here! … I tell them, ‘You don’t know what I got up my sleeve.’ ”

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