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Angela Bassett to Make Directorial Debut

Actress Angela Bassett is making the move to behind the camera. The Oscar-nominated actress will shoot the indie drama United States this summer. The film will mark the actress' directorial debut. She will produce alongside her husband, singer Courtney B. Vance via their Bassett/Vance production banner. It is the couple's first production project.

The film is based on a novel titled Erasure, which was written by Percival Everett. The story considers the ramifications of the high price of fame and is set within the world of literature. It follows a prominent black writer who pens a fake autobiography and writes through the faux persona of a hoodlum in an effort to debunk ghetto myths in culture. The book is eventually considered for the National Book Award title, which forces the author to choose between the truth, his pride and fame. A summer start is planned.

Vance has also just agreed to star in Crowley, a medical drama starring Harrison Ford and Brendan Fraser. In the film, Vance will play a father whose daughter is suffering from the same genetic disease as Fraser's children.

—The ARTISTdirect Staff
03.12.09