Angela Bassett shares a special Oscars moment with her good friend Austin Butler

Angela Bassett watched Austin Butler prepare for the Academy Awards for Best Actor.

The actress shared that she reached out to Butler in a short essay with a TIME 100 tribute released today.

Butler was up against Colin Farrell, Bill Nighy, Paul Mescal and Brendan Fraser for the Best Actor award, with the latter winning.

“On the night of the Oscars, with Austin by my side, I fully understood how he felt when it came time to know if he would climb those steps to the podium,” Bassett wrote. “Then I took his hand and held it gently when the winner was announced. Although his name was not mentioned, Austin is no less a winner.”

Bassett himself was nominated for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Much has been written about her apparent disappointment when her name was not given. But she understood much better what not winning could mean.

Butler’s loss is not the end, but a beginning for Butler, who can now shed his “Elvis” persona.

“It was time for Austin to say goodbye to Elvis as he began to explore an endless universe of possibilities as an actor. I can’t wait to see what he brings us next.”

Butler and Bassett met on the awards circuit and hit it off quickly.

“Even though everything revolved around him, Austin opened his heart to new friends,” Bassett said. “I was lucky enough to be one of them.”

Bassett, who was nominated for an Oscar for her portrayal of Tina Tuner in the 1993 film what does love have to do with know how hard it can be to shake off a strong character.

“There is a lot that goes into finding an iconic actor, not to pretend to be him, but to provide a perspective on the artist as we enact parts of his story,” Bassett wrote. “You make this set change forever. You hope that when people see the film, they won’t see you – they’ll see an artist’s journey through a different lens. Austin succeeded with a brilliantly nuanced performance.