Angela Bassett says 'What's Love Got to Do with It' costar Laurence Fishburne stood up for her and made sure they only filmed 4 takes of harrowing sexual assault scene

• Angela Bassett said Laurence Fishburne advocated for her on the set of "What's Love Got to Do with It."
• Fishburne ensured that they only filmed four takes of a difficult sexual assault scene.

The 1993 Tina Turner biopic "What's Love Got to Do with It" explores the iconic singer's life and career, with Angela Bassett playing Turner opposite Laurence Fishburne as her abusive ex-husband, Ike Turner.

The Brian Gibson-directed movie is based on Turner's autobiography, "I, Tina," in which the late singer recalled her experiences dealing with Ike's temper and addiction.

Speaking to Variety for the film's 30th anniversary, Bassett said that at the time of making the movie, she felt like she couldn't speak up to the director about doing numerous takes, or feeling uncomfortable, because she was a "new actor."

Thankfully, Bassett said Fishburne frequently stepped in during long days to ensure that everyone was being treated fairly during production.

"He was strong, he was respectful. He could bring order and he had discipline. When things got out of hand, as they did, he could bring some stoppage and clarity to the moment," the actor explained. "We literally worked 16-hour days on the smallest of things, like cutting a ribbon."

Bassett added: "And whereas I could not, as an up-and-coming actor to this white male British director, Laurence could say, 'I think we got it. We got it.' And then we could all go home and get some rest to be ready for the next day."

The "Black Panther" and "9-1-1" star went on to say that while shooting one infamous scene, in which Ike sexually assaults Tina, Fishburne advocated for her, and made sure that they didn't repeatedly film the harrowing scene in front of the whole crew.

Recalling that she didn't want to film the scene "over and over and over again for 16 hours," Bassett said: "I wasn't willing to do that. And I knew I couldn't ask the director because, here I am as a new actor, but I could talk to Laurence."

"So Laurence asked me, 'How many times you want to do this?' And I looked at him, he took my hand and I said, 'Four or five,'" said the actor. "And then he told the director, like, 'Hey man, we're just going to do this four times. So let's make sure we get the cameras right and we're going to keep them outside of the studio.'"