On May 5, the Emmy winner was among the celebs attending fashion’s biggest night as a first-timer. Speaking with PEOPLE after the event while promoting Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (out May 23), Bassett says her 19-year-olds, daunghter Bronwyn and son Slater, were “excited” about their mom’s big red carpet moment.

“We lived to impress these young ones. They were so thrilled that I got a chance to go and as was I,” says the actress, 66.

Bassett and her husband, Courtney B. Vance, welcomed their fraternal twins on Jan. 27, 2006, via surrogate.

The 9-1-1 star also said she looked forward to her Met debut for “weeks and weeks” and ended up having a “brilliant time” soaking in the atmosphere.

Between “running into friends and colleagues,” enjoying a “divine” meal by James Beard Award–winning chef Kwame Onwuachi of N.Y.C.’s Tatiana, and reveling in performances by Stevie Wonder and Usher (“I mean, entertainment at its highest,” describes Bassett), she had lots to take in.

Although, it was her ensemble that really made the night. In accordance with the gala’s ” Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” theme and “Tailored for You” dress code, Bassett and her stylist Jennifer Austin collaborated with Burberry creative director Daniel Lee on a custom look featuring a blue jacquard velvet co-ord with a cape-sleeve waistcoat and trousers. She also wore Messika jewelry and a Jon Narcisso Millinery top hat.

Bassett tells PEOPLE she was inspired by the La Sape subculture of the Congo. According to Vogue Scandinavia, Sapeurs, followers of La Sape, are mostly “day labourers, taxi drivers or gardeners, but … they wear dapper designer suits and take great pride in their appearance.”

On Instagram, Bassett showed off her outfit, writing, “Ooo! We. Had. Us. a. TIME!!!” while thanking her “ride or die” glam squad and Met co-chair Anna Wintour for the experience. “I’m gonna float on this party for a long while! “

In the eighth film in the Mission: Impossible franchise, also starring Tom Cruise, Bassett reprises her role as CIA director-turned-POTUS Erika Sloane, whom she played in the 2018 film Mission: Impossible – Fallout. The new film will pick up where the 2023 film MissiomL Imossible-Dead Reckoning left off. Hunt and his team are still in the midst of a potentially catastrophic fight against a rogue artificial intelligence machine dubbed “the Entity.” Though, director Christopher McQuarrie is careful to say whether or not this will be the final Mission: Impossiable movie.

“It is, I hope, the satisfying conclusion to a 30-year story arc,” he told Empire in February 2025. “I’m pretty confident that people are going to feel that the title was appropriate.”