Angela Bassett says she only ate 'bland chicken breast,' broccoli, string beans, black coffee, and water to prepare to play Tina Turner in 'What's Love Got to Do with It'

• Angela Bassett only ate "bland" chicken, broccoli, and string beans to play Tina Turner.
• She played the iconic singer in 1993's "What's Love Got to Do with It."

Tina Turner became one of the most iconic singers in history after a successful career in the 1960s and 1970s, before making a monumental comeback in the 1980s with her album "Private Dancer."

The star, who passed away in May, was so popular that it came as no surprise when a film about her life was developed in the early 1990s, with Angela Bassett playing the icon on the big screen opposite Laurence Fishburne as Turner's abusive ex-husband, Ike Turner.

Bassett, who won a Golden Globe for the role, and also received an Oscar nomination, had to train incredibly hard for the physical role, and recently spoke to Variety for the film's 30th anniversary about the work she put into her performance — including her grueling diet.

The "Black Panther" star recalled how she ate "broccoli, string beans, Yukon potatoes, and bland chicken breast. That's what my trainer suggested for me."

"And black coffee and water. Literally. And there was no time to sit down at a table and eat those items," she continued.

"You literally stood stuffing them in your face, one by one, and then jump back on the dance floor," Bassett added. "I was losing inches every week."

The lack of food and intense preparation meant that Bassett lost a staggering amount of weight during production.

"I would go see Ruth Carter, our costume designer, and every week it was less and less of me — inches just melting away. It was a schedule you would never keep up again," said Bassett.

The actor also explained that once she stopped filming, she didn't keep up the rigorous diet and exercise regime.

"I rebelled and overcorrected. When you're bent so far in one direction, you just bounce right to the other side. You eat apple pie and all those things," said Bassett, who earned her second Oscar nomination earlier this year for "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever."