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Angela Bassett Is A Jazz Singer In WWII Drama 'Close To The Enemy'
Angela Bassett Is A Jazz Singer In WWII Drama 'Close To The Enemy'

Angela Bassett Is A Jazz Singer In WWII Drama 'Close To The Enemy'

Angela Bassett Is A Jazz Singer In WWII Drama 'Close To The Enemy'

Angela Bassett is an American jazz singer in a recently released British miniseries.

Titled Close To The Enemy, the seven episode miniseries features Bassett as Eva, a jazz singer that serves as the entertainment for a London hotel that was damaged during World War II.

Set after the war the series follows a British intelligence officer, whose last task for the Army is to make sure that a captured German scientist hands over secret military technology that is integral to national security.

In a statement for the show Bassett described her character as the following:

"She's a courageous businesswoman who has had to leave America in the 1940s to escape racism. She moves to London to exercise her creative instincts and business acumen. She is the leader of the whole band of men. She brings life back to that once grand hotel from the bottom up. She invades the space of the buttoned up, stodgy people upstairs with her boldness, her brassiness, her beauty and her sensuality. They have never seen anyone like her before! She puts me in mind of Josephine Baker, who went to Europe, turned it on its head and generally enlivened the joint!"

She also spoke to her decision to join the cast of Close To The Enemy, stating:

"Because I love the BBC. It has a very rich history of doing incredible work. I've never had an opportunity to travel that way before. But then I weighed up the pros and cons, and saw there were so many pros. I realized what an amazing writer and director Stephen is. Sometimes it's brilliant just to be in the company of someone that creative. You don't get those opportunities every five years or even every lifetime! So you show up and you say, 'Yes, please!'"

Close To The Enemy made its U.S. premiere this past week via Acorn TV. To watch you have to subscribe to the service, which you can do here. Watch a trailer which features Bassett as Eva, below.