Breaking News: Angela Bassett On Playing A Black Woman President In ‘Zero Day’ Amid Kamala Harris’ Recent Campaign: ‘We’re So Close To That Being A Reality…..See More

Angela Bassett believes that her Zero Day role as President of the United States means America is closer than ever to electing a Black female president, regardless of what today’s political climate looks like.

“I hope that they will see what is possible, what is probable,” she said regarding what she hopes the audience takes away from her role. “We’re so close to [that] being a reality.”

We had Kamala [Harris] as our vice president when we began shooting it, but certainly she hadn’t made the run for president at that time. But it was a wonderful opportunity,” she said. “I’m great that the world was able to experience her whole self, even though we didn’t quite cross the finish line with that, but timing is everything.”

Bassett also added how hope is so important when believing in a future with a Black woman as the leader of the free world.

“Maybe life will imitate art one day and it came very close to doing so in many of our minds,” she said. “We can never abandon hope.”

Zero Day stars Bassett as President Evelyn Mitchell, the current president who tasks the former president, President George Mullen (Robert De Niro) to help keep America safe by heading the Zero Day Commission. The commission is tasked with “investigating a devastating global cyberattack,” according to the film description.

Watch the full interview with Bassett and other cast members, including Lizzy Caplan and Joan Allen, above.