Bassett played Bernadine in the 1995 movie about female friendship that costarred Whitney Houston.

Angela Bassett responds to Teyana Taylor’s Waiting to Exhale-inspired SNL promo: ‘You got me GOOD!’

Bassett played Bernadine in the 1995 movie about female friendship that costarred Whitney Houston.

By Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt is a writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2024. Her work has previously appeared on Yahoo and in American *Journalism Review* and *The Shreveport Times*.

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January 21, 2026 11:59 p.m. ET

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Teyana Taylor spoofed Angela Bassett's 'Waiting to Exhale' role. Credit:

snl, courtesy netflix

Angela Bassett, for one, appears to be looking forward to watching Teyana Taylor host this weekend's episode of *Saturday Night Live*.

The Oscar winner was a fan of a promo dropped Wednesday that parodied Bassett's 1995 movie *Waiting to Exhale* and sees cast member Ashley Padilla tell Taylor, while they are prepping for the show, that cast member Andrew Dismukes "ate my eggplant parm I was saving."**

Padilla brushed it off, but lamented that she "had the perfect bite left" of the dish.

None of this sat well with the *One Battle After Another* star, who talked Padilla into visiting Dismukes' dressing room, where she suddenly appears in a nightgown, a robe, and flowing hair — the same look that Bassett has in an important scene in the story about the friendship between four Black women.

"I didn't know we were changing," Padilla says.

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In the movie, Bassett's Bernadine has a serious breakup with her husband of 11 years, for whom she had put aside her own career aspirations in support of him and their family, and is now leaving her for a white woman. She goes into his closet and determines that "this motherf---er is psychotic" — she can't stand the way he perfectly lines up his shoes — before hauling his possessions outside, where she sets them and his car on fire with a can of gas and a cigarette.

Taylor takes a similar approach to the stolen food. She's disgusted by Dismukes' many bobbleheads. She counts 732 — referencing Bernadine's fury in the film scene — while Padilla, who remains by her side, counts "like five."**

Taylor even says aloud, "You don't deserve this, Bernadine!" as she moves around the room ripping a poster from the walls, uprooting a plant, and instructing Padilla to get the Nintendo. Padilla helps, but she reminds her accomplice that her name is Ashley.

Taylor then lights a cigarette, sets the tchotchkes aflame, and fury-walks out the door.

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In the comments, fans posted images of Bassett in the film, and the verified account of Bassett herself shared her delight.**

"I love this sooo sooo much!!!!" she commented. "You got me GOOD! xoAng."

Based on the 1992 book by Terry McMillan, the *Waiting to Exhale* movie costarred Loretta Devine, Lela Rochon, and the late Whitney Houston, and its soundtrack spawned several hit songs.**

*Saturday Night Live* airs live at 11:30 p.m. ET/8:30 p.m. PT Saturdays on NBC.**

- Saturday Night Live

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Source: “EW Saturday”