Angela Bassett’s 13-Year-Old Twins Were Taught to Be ‘Bright’ and Treat Others ‘Compassionately’

Actress Angela Bassett has to have the most adorable kids ever! Not only does she raise her 13-year-old twins, son Slater and daughter Bronwyn to have respect for themselves and others, but she also raises them to be lovely human beings.

“It is a joy seeing them growing so beautifully, you know, so bright, so smart, so compassionately, and you just want them to be aware, you know?” the mom of two told Closer Weekly and other reporters at an annual brunch for The Rape Foundation.

At the event, Angela also spoke about the chores that she makes her kids do at home and why it’s important for parents to “put the work in early.”

“Make up those beds, you know. I had ‘em making up beds at 18 months,” she jokingly explained. “I’m not trying at 13 and 14 to get them to do anything. So they’re used to doing the right thing, you know, by and large.

Angela’s childhood has been a lot more different than the one her children has. When the What’s Love Got to Do With It star was much younger, she was sadly molested by her mother’s boyfriend. Even as of today, she never forget what happened to her on that fateful day.

“I grew up as a young woman, [with] a single mother. My mother’s boyfriend, you know, one night came into the room and was fondling my breasts and I woke up,” she recalled. “Fortunately, it wasn’t a complete assault, it was fondling, but it was devastating enough for a child who’s 12 or 13 and thankfully to have a mother who could tell as soon as light broke that this happened and for her to expel him.”

After Angela’s mom found out what happened to her daughter, she didn’t want to talk about it ever again.

“It’s not something that she wanted to talk about anymore because, you know, later, you know, just talk about it later,” she said. Angela’s encounter with her mom’s boyfriend also left her heartbroken — but it didn’t destroy her.

“[The fact that] she heard me, believed me, and did something about it I think was so empowering for me as a young teen, as a young woman,” she explained.

You’re so strong, Angela — and you’re teaching your children to be strong too.

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