Angela Bassett lands Broadway role

Bassett was nominated for an Oscar for her role in What's Love Got To Do With It?

Malcom X actress Angela Bassett has signed up to star opposite Samuel L Jackson in the Broadway production of the play The Mountaintop.

The 52-year-old has replaced Halle Berry, who pulled out of the role because of child custody issues.

The Mountaintop, by Katori Hall, won the Olivier award for best new play in London last year.

Performances are scheduled to start in September at the Bernard B Jacobs Theatre in New York.

The Mountaintop depicts civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr on the night before his 1968 assassination.

Bassett will play the mysterious woman who visits him the night before.

It was announced in April that Jackson would make his Broadway debut in the role.

"These two remarkable actors have excited audiences around the world for many years, and bringing them together in this extraordinary new play on Broadway promises to be a major highlight of the season," producers Jean Doumanian and Sonia Friedman said in a statement.

Bassett's other film credits include the Tina Turner biopic What's Love Got to Do With It? and Boyz n the Hood.