Black Reel Award for Outstanding Actress
The 2022 recipient: Danielle Deadwyler
Awarded forOutstanding Actress
CountryUnited States
Presented byBlack Reel Awards (BRAs)
First awardedBlack Reel Awards of 2000
Most recent winnerTessa Thompson
Passing (film) (Black Reel Awards of 2022)
Websiteblackreelawards.com

This article lists the winners and nominees for the Black Reel Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture. The award recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role within the given eligible period.

Nia Long received the very first award for The Best Man at the 1st Annual Black Reel Awards in 2000. Since its inception, the award has been given out to 21 actresses. With 6 nominations, Viola Davis hold the record for most nominations and tied with Sanaa Lathan for most wins with 2. Rosario Dawson is the most nominated actress in this category without a win. Gugu Mbatha-Raw is the only actress to earn multiple nominations in the same year for Belle & Beyond the Lights at the 14th Annual Black Reel Awards.

At age 9, Quvenzhane Wallis became the youngest actress to win this award for Beasts of the Southern Wild and at age 69, Irma P. Hall became the oldest winner in this category for The Ladykillers.

Winners and nominees

Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold.

2000s

Year Actress Film Ref
2000
Nia Long The Best Man [1]
Rosario Dawson Light It Up
Thandiwe Newton Besieged
Rosie Perez The 24 Hour Woman
Malinda Williams The Wood
2001
Sanaa Lathan Love & Basketball [2]
Angela Bassett Boesman and Lena
Jada Pinkett Smith Bamboozled
Michelle Rodriguez Girlfight
Alfre Woodard What's Cooking
2002
Halle Berry Monster's Ball [3]
Vivica A. Fox Two Can Play That Game
Pam Grier Bones
Taraji P. Henson Baby Boy
Regina King Down to Earth
2003
Angela Bassett Sunshine State [4]
Kimberly Elise John Q
Aunjanue Ellis Undercover Brother
Sanaa Lathan Brown Sugar
Thandiwe Newton The Truth About Charlie
2004
Sanaa Lathan Out of Time [5]
Halle Berry Gothika
Beyoncé The Fighting Temptations
Queen Latifah Bringing Down the House
Gabrielle Union Deliver Us from Eva
2005 Drama [6]
Sophie Okonedo Hotel Rwanda
Regina King Ray
Kerry Washington
Comedy / Musical
Irma P. Hall The Ladykillers
Angela Bassett Mr. 3000
Gabrielle Union Breakin' All the Rules
2006
Kimberly Elise Diary of a Mad Black Woman [7]
Rosario Dawson Rent
Nona Gaye The Gospel
Queen Latifah Last Holiday
Zoe Saldana Guess Who
2007
Keke Palmer Akeelah and the Bee [8]
Beyoncé Dreamgirls
Sanaa Lathan Something New
2008
Queen Latifah The Secret Life of Bees [9]
Jennifer Hudson The Secret Life of Bees
Sanaa Lathan The Family That Preys
Keke Palmer The Longshots
Alfre Woodard The Family That Preys

2010s

Year Actress Film Ref
2010
Gabourey Sidibe Precious [10]
Nicole Beharie American Violet
Taraji P. Henson I Can Do Bad All By Myself
Sophie Okonedo Skin
Maya Rudolph Away We Go
2011
Kerry Washington Night Catches Us [11]
Kimberly Elise For Colored Girls
Queen Latifah Just Wright
Thandiwe Newton For Colored Girls
Anika Noni Rose
2012
Viola Davis The Help [12]
Naomie Harris The First Grader
Nia Long Mooz-lum
Adepero Oduye Pariah
Zoe Saldana Colombiana
2013
Quvenzhané Wallis Beasts of the Southern Wild [13]
Halle Berry Cloud Atlas
Emayatzy Corinealdi Middle of Nowhere
Viola Davis Won't Back Down
Rashida Jones Celeste and Jesse Forever
2014
Danai Gurira Mother of George [14]
Halle Berry The Call
Rosario Dawson Trance
Lisagay Hamilton Go for Sisters
Nia Long The Best Man Holiday
2015
Gugu Mbatha-Raw Belle [15]
Rosario Dawson Top Five
Gugu Mbatha-Raw Beyond the Lights
Tessa Thompson Dear White People
Quvenzhané Wallis Annie
2016
Teyonah Parris Chi-Raq [16]
Viola Davis Lila & Eve
Kitana Kiki Rodriguez Tangerine
Zoe Saldana Infinitely Polar Bear
Karidja Touré Girlhood
2017
Ruth Negga Loving [17]
Taraji P. Henson Hidden Figures
Royalty Hightower The Fits
Sasha Lane American Honey
Madina Nwalanga Queen of Katwe
2018
Natalie Paul Crown Heights [18][19]
Amandla Stenberg Everything, Everything
Carmen Ejogo It Comes at Night
Jessica Williams The Incredible Jessica James
Simone Baker Gook
2019
KiKi Layne If Beale Street Could Talk [20][21]
Viola Davis Widows
Regina Hall Support the Girls
Amandla Stenberg The Hate U Give
Zoe Renee Jinn

2020s

Year Actress Film Ref
2020
Lupita Nyong’o Us [22]
Cynthia Erivo Harriet
Jodie Turner-Smith Queen & Slim
Gugu Mbatha-Raw Fast Color
Alfre Woodard Clemency
2021
Viola Davis Ma Rainey's Black Bottom [23]
Nicole Beharie Miss Juneteenth
Andra Day The United States vs. Billie Holiday
Tessa Thompson Sylvie's Love
Zendaya Malcolm & Marie
2022
Tessa Thompson Passing [24]
Zazie Beetz The Harder They Fall
Halle Berry Bruised
Jennifer Hudson Respect
Taylour Paige Zola
2023
Danielle Deadwyler Till [25]
Viola Davis The Woman King
Anna Diop Nanny
Regina Hall Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.
Letitia Wright Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Multiple nominations and wins

Multiple wins

2 Wins

Multiple nominations

Multiple nominations from the same film

Age superlatives

Record Actress Film Age (in years)
Oldest winner Irma P. Hall The Ladykillers 69
Oldest nominee Irma P. Hall The Ladykillers 69
Youngest winner Quvenzhané Wallis Beasts of the Southern Wild 9
Youngest nominee Quvenzhané Wallis Beasts of the Southern Wild 9

References

  1. ^ 2000 Black Reel Awards
  2. ^ 2001 Black Reel Awards
  3. ^ 2002 Black Reel Awards
  4. ^ 2003 Black Reel Awards
  5. ^ 2004 Black Reel Awards
  6. ^ 2005 Black Reel Awards
  7. ^ 2006 Black Reel Awards
  8. ^ 2007 Black Reel Awards
  9. ^ 2008 Black Reel Awards
  10. ^ 2010 Black Reel Awards
  11. ^ 2011 Black Reel Awards
  12. ^ 2012 Black Reel Awards
  13. ^ "Critics Wild About Beasts". Black Reel Awards. February 8, 2013. Retrieved August 1, 2016.
  14. ^ "2014 Black Reel Awards - Nominees". Black Reel Awards. December 11, 2014. Retrieved August 1, 2016.
  15. ^ 2015 Black Reel Awards
  16. ^ "17th Annual Black Reel Awards Nominations – the Black Reel Awards". Archived from the original on January 19, 2021. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  17. ^ 2017 Black Reel Awards
  18. ^ Get Out Dominates the Black Reel Awards Archived December 19, 2017, at the Wayback Machine Black Reel Awards. 13 December 2017.
  19. ^ Get Out “Sinks” the Competition at The Black Reel Awards Archived February 28, 2018, at the Wayback Machine Black Reel Awards. 23 February 2018.
  20. ^ [1] Archived April 26, 2019, at the Wayback Machine Black Reel Awards. 13 December 2017.
  21. ^ [2] Archived October 23, 2019, at the Wayback Machine Black Reel Awards. 9 February 2019.
  22. ^ "Black Reel Awards (2020)". IMDb.
  23. ^ "A Special "Night in Miami!" – the Black Reel Awards". Archived from the original on February 22, 2021. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
  24. ^ "'The Harder They Fall' Sets Record with 20 Nominations from the Black Reel Awards". Black Girl Nerds. BGN Staff. December 16, 2021. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
  25. ^ Complex, Valerie (February 6, 2023). "'The Woman King' Wins Big at the 23rd Annual Black Reel Awards". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
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