A lead acting nominees are Black, including repeat honorees Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross (Black-ish), Don Cheadle (Black Monday), three-time nominee Kerry Washington (Little Fires Everywhere) and three-time winner Regina King (Watchmen).
Tiffany Boone for “Little Fires Everywhere”
Jeremy PopeJeremy Pope (born July 9, 1992) is an American Broadway theater performer, actor, and singer. He became the sixth person in Tony Award history to be nominated in two categories for separate performances during the same year, when he received nominations for Choir Boy and Ain’t Too Proud in 2019,the latter of which also earned him a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album nomination.
In 2020, Pope starred in the Netflix miniseries, Hollywood, and received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie.
Angela BassettAngela Evelyn Bassett Vance (born August 16, 1958) is an American actress, director, producer, and activist. She is known for her biographical film roles, most notably her performance as Tina Turner in the biopic What’s Love Got to Do with It (1993), for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical. Bassett has additionally portrayed real life figures Betty Shabazz in both Malcolm X (1992) and Panther (1995), Katherine Jackson in The Jacksons: An American Dream (1992), Voletta Wallace in Notorious (2009) and Coretta Scott King in Betty & Coretta (2013). Her other notable film roles include Reva Styles in Boyz n the Hood (1991), Bernie Harris in Waiting to Exhale (1995), Rachel Constantine in Contact (1997), Lynne Jacobs in Olympus Has Fallen (2013) and London Has Fallen (2016), and Queen Ramonda in Black Panther (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019).
| 2020 | Soul | Dorthea Williams | Voice role; Post-production |
| TBA | Gunpowder Milkshake | Anna May | Post-production |
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II Cal Abar / Dr. Manhattan Watchmen
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (born July 15, 1986) is an American architect and actor. He is best known for portraying David Kane / Black Manta in the DC Extended Universe superhero film Aquaman (2018) and Cal Abar in the HBO limited series Watchmen (2019). For the latter, he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie.
After starring in the Netflix musical drama series The Get Down (2016–2017), Abdul-Mateen appeared in numerous films, including Baywatch (2017), The Greatest Showman (2017), and Us (2019).
| 2020 | All Day and a Night | Big Stunna | |
| Candyman | Anthony McCoy / Candyman | Post-production | |
| The Trial of the Chicago 7 | Bobby Seale | Post-production | |
| 2022 | The Matrix 4 | Filming |
Viola Davis for “How To Get Away With Murder”
Viola Davis is an American actress and producer. Having won an Academy Award, an Emmy Award, and two Tony Awards, she is the first black actress to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting. Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2012 and 2017
Born in St. Matthews, South Carolina, Davis began her acting career in Central Falls, Rhode Island, starring in minor theater productions. After graduating from the Juilliard School in 1993, she won an Obie Award in 1999 for her performance as Ruby McCollum in Everybody’s Ruby. She played minor roles in several films and television series in the late 1990s and early 2000s, before winning the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her role as Tonya in August Wilson’s King Hedley II in 2001. Davis’s film breakthrough came in 2008, when her role as a troubled mother in Doubt earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Greater success came to Davis in the 2010s. She won the 2010 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for playing Rose Maxson in the revival of August Wilson’s play Fences.[4] For starring as a 1960s housemaid in the comedy-drama The Help (2011), Davis received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress and won a SAG Award.In 2014, Davis began playing lawyer Annalise Keating in the ABC television drama series How to Get Away with Murder, and in 2015, she became the first black woman to win the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.In 2016, Davis played Amanda Waller in the superhero film Suicide Squad and reprised the role of Maxson in the film adaptation of Fences, winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actres She went on to receive a BAFTA nomination for starring in the heist film Widows (2018).
Davis and her husband, Julius Tennon, are founders of a production company, JuVee Productions. Davis is also widely recognized for her advocacy and support of human rights and equal rights for women and women of color.
| Giving Voice | 2020 | Herself | James D. Stern Fernando Villena |
Documentary; also executive producer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Suicide Squad  |
2021 | Amanda Waller | James Gunn | Post-production | |
| Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom |
TBA | Ma Rainey | George C. Wolfe | Post-production | |
| Untitled Nora Fingscheidt project |
TBA | Nora Fingscheidt | Filming |
After six years, 2020 had us bid farewell to Viola Davis’ portrayal of the (sometimes) morally conflicted, courageous, sharp witted and sharp tongued Annalise Keating in How to Get Away with Murder.
Jones has made small appearances in multiple independent films, including Titus (2013) and Fairfield (2014). She has also appeared in episodes of Blue Bloods and Unforgettable.
In 2015, she originated the roles of Maria Reynolds and Margarita “Peggy” Schuyler Van Rensselaer in the original Off-Broadway production of Hamilton. When the show moved to Broadway, she continued in those roles, and remained with that production until December 8, 2016. In 2016, she won a Grammy Award for her work as one of the principal soloists on the Hamilton cast album.
In the 2017 Super Bowl, she, along with fellow Hamilton stars Renée Elise Goldsberry and Phillipa Soo, sang “America the Beautiful”.
Jones also appears in the 2015 film Mistress America, and in the 2018 film Dog Days.
| 2020 | The Photograph | Rachel Miller |
| Hamilton | Peggy Schuyler / Maria Reynolds | |
| One Night in Miami | Barbara Cooke | |
| Honest Thief | Beth Hall |
Edward Regan Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an American actor, comedian, and singer. Murphy was a regular cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1980 to 1984. He has worked as a stand-up comedian and was ranked No. 10 on Comedy Central’s list of the 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time.
In films, Murphy has received Golden Globe Award nominations for his performances in 48 Hrs., the Beverly Hills Cop series, Trading Places, The Nutty Professor, and Dolemite Is My Name. In 2007, he won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor and received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of soul singer James “Thunder” Early in Dreamgirls.
Murphy’s work as a voice actor in films includes Thurgood Stubbs in The PJs, Donkey in DreamWorks Animation’s Shrek series, and the Chinese dragon Mushu in Disney’s Mulan. In some films, he plays multiple roles in addition to his main character, intended as a tribute to one of his idols Peter Sellers, who played multiple roles in Dr. Strangelove and elsewhere. He has played multiple roles in Coming to America, Wes Craven’s Vampire in Brooklyn, the Nutty Professor films (where he played the title role in two incarnations, plus his character’s father, brother, mother, and grandmother), Bowfinger, The Adventures of Pluto Nash, Norbit, and Meet Dave. As of 2016, Murphy’s films have grossed over $3.8 billion ($6.5 billion adjusted for inflation) in the United States and Canada box office, and over $6.7 billion worldwide.In 2015, his films made him the sixth-highest grossing actor in the United States.
In 2015, Murphy was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
| 2020 | Coming 2 America | Prince Akeem Joffer / Randy Watson | Also writer (story) Post-production |
Lupita Amondi Nyong’o Spanish: born March 1, 1983) is a Kenyan-Mexican actress and author. The daughter of Kenyan politician Peter Anyang’ Nyong’o, Nyong’o was born in Mexico City, where her father was teaching, and was raised in Kenya from the age of one. She attended college in the United States, earning a bachelor’s degree in film and theater studies from Hampshire College.
Nyong’o began her career in Hollywood as a production assistant. In 2008, she made her acting debut with the short film East River and subsequently returned to Kenya to star in the television series Shuga (2009–2012). Also in 2009, she wrote, produced and directed the documentary In My Genes. She then pursued a master’s degree in acting from the Yale School of Drama. Soon after her graduation, she had her first feature film role as Patsey in Steve McQueen’s historical drama 12 Years a Slave (2013), for which she received critical acclaim and won several awards, including the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She became the first Kenyan and Mexican actress to win an Academy Award.
Nyong’o made her Broadway debut as a teenage orphan in the play Eclipsed (2015), for which she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. She went on to perform a motion capture role as Maz Kanata in the Star Wars sequel trilogy (2015–2019) and a voice role as Raksha in The Jungle Book (2016). Nyong’o’s career progressed with her role as Nakia in the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero film Black Panther (2018) and her starring role in Jordan Peele’s critically acclaimed horror film Us (2019).
In addition to acting, Nyong’o supports historic preservation. She is vocal about preventing sexual harassment and working for women’s and animal rights. In 2014, she was named the most beautiful woman by People. Nyong’o has also written a children’s book named Sulwe (2019), which became a number one New York Times Best-Seller. Also in 2019, Nyong’o narrated the Discovery Channel‘s docu-series Serengeti, which earned her an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Narrator. Nyong’o was named among Africa’s “50 Most Powerful Women” by Forbes in 2020.
| 2020 | Black Is King | Completed | |
| 2021 | 355 | TBA | Post-production |
Chiwetel Umeadi Ejiofor born 10 July 1977) is a British actor and filmmaker. After enrolling at the National Youth Theatre in 1995 and attending the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, at age 19 and three months into his course, Ejiofor was cast by Steven Spielberg to play a supporting role in the film Amistad (1997) as James Covey.
Ejiofor portrayed the characters Okwe in Dirty Pretty Things (2002), Lola in Kinky Boots (2005), The Operative in Serenity (2005), Adrian Helmsley in 2012 (2009), Solomon Northup in 12 Years a Slave (2013), Vincent Kapoor in The Martian (2015), Karl Mordo in Doctor Strange (2016) and Trywell Kamkwamba in The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (2019). He voiced Dr. Watson in Sherlock Gnomes (2018) and Scar in the 2019 remake of The Lion King and featured in the fantasy film Maleficent: Mistress of Evil. For 12 Years a Slave, he received Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations, along with the BAFTA Award for Best Actor. He was nominated for a 2014 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for his performance on Dancing on the Edge.
Ejiofor has received numerous awards and nominations for acting, including the BAFTA Orange Rising Star Award in 2006, two Golden Globe Award nominations, and the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his performance in Othello in 2008. In 2008, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II for services to the arts. He was elevated to Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2015 Birthday Honours.
| 2020 | The Old Guard | Copley | Gina Prince-Bythewood | |
| 2021 | Infinite | Ted | Antoine Fuqua | Post-production |
Angelica Ross (born 1980/1981 (age 38–39) is an American businesswoman, actress, and transgender rights advocate. A self-taught computer coder, she went on to become founder and CEO of TransTech Social Enterprises, a firm that helps employ transgender people in the tech industry.
Ross began her acting career in the web series Her Story (2016), after which she received further recognition and critical acclaim for her starring roles in the FX drama series Pose (2018–2019) and the FX anthology horror series American Horror Story (2019–present).
| 2021 | American Horror Story | TBA | Upcoming season |
Kerry Marisa Washington(born January 31, 1977)is an American actress, producer, and director. She gained wide public recognition for starring as crisis management expert Olivia Pope in the ABC drama series Scandal (2012–2018). For her role, she received nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress. Her portrayal of Anita Hill in the HBO television political thriller film Confirmation (2016), earned her another Primetime Emmy Award nomination.
In film, Washington is known for her roles as Della Bea Robinson in Ray (2004), as Kay in The Last King of Scotland (2006), as Alicia Masters in the live-action Fantastic Four films of 2005 and 2007, and as Broomhilda von Shaft in Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained (2012). She has also starred in the independent films Our Song (2000), The Dead Girl (2006), Mother and Child (2009), Night Catches Us (2010), and American Son (2019).
Time magazine included Washington in its Time 100 list of 2014.In 2018, Forbes named her the eighth highest-paid television actress.
| 2020 | The Fight | None | Executive producer |
| The Prom | Ms. Greene | Post-production |
Regina Lee Hall (born December 12, 1970) is an American actress. She has appeared in numerous television series, most prominently in a regular role on the comedy series Ally McBeal (2001–2002) and Black Monday (2019–present). Hall became known for starring as Brenda in the Scary Movie film series (2000–2005), and her other significant film roles include The Best Man (1999) and its sequel The Best Man Holiday (2013), Malibu’s Most Wanted (2003), Think Like a Man (2012) and its sequel Think Like a Man Too (2014), About Last Night (2014), Vacation (2015), Girls Trip (2017), and The Hate U Give (2018).
She received critical acclaim for starring as Lisa Conroy in the comedy film Support the Girls (2018), becoming the first African American to win the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress, and received nominations for the Gotham Award and Independent Spirit Award for Best Actress.
| TBA | Breaking News in Yuba County | Ramirez | Post-production | |
| TBA | Master | Gail Bishop | Filming; Also executive producer |
Regina Rene King (born January 15, 1971) is an Academy Award winning American actress and director. King first gained attention in 1985 for her role in the NBC television series 227. She appeared in both television and film, rising to greater prominence with roles in the films Friday (1995), Jerry Maguire (1996), and the crime television series Southland (2009–2013). From 2015 to 2017, King starred in the ABC anthology series American Crime, for which she won two Primetime Emmy Awards, and in 2018, she starred in the Netflix miniseries Seven Seconds, for which she won her third Emmy Award. Also in 2018, her role as a troubled mother in the film If Beale Street Could Talk won her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
King’s other television roles include voice work for Huey and Riley Freeman on the Adult Swim animated series The Boondocks, the drama series The Leftovers (2015–2017), and the sitcom The Big Bang Theory. She has also played supporting roles in the films Boyz n the Hood (1991), Poetic Justice (1993), Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde (2003), Ray (2004), and Miss Congeniality 2: Armed & Fabulous (2005). In 2019, she starred in the HBO superhero series Watchmen.
King has also directed episodes for several television shows, including Scandal in 2015 and 2016 and This Is Us in 2017. She has also directed the music video for the 2010 song “Finding My Way Back” by Jaheim. Time magazine named King one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2019.
Aunjanue L. Ellis born February 21, 1969) is an American film, stage, and television actress, and producer. She began her acting career in theater, and made her film debut in Girls Town. Ellis has played leading roles in a number of independent movies, and co-starred in several mainstream films.
Ellis is best known for her roles in films Men of Honor (2000), The Caveman’s Valentine (2001), Undercover Brother (2002), Ray (2004), The Express: The Ernie Davis Story (2008), The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009) and The Help (2011). On television, Ellis had regular role in the ABC police drama series High Incident (1996–97), and later co-starred in a number of short-lived dramas. She had recurring roles on The Practice, True Blood, and The Mentalist, and played roles in a number of made for television movies, such as Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story (2009) and Abducted: The Carlina White Story (2013).
In 2015, Ellis played the leading role in the miniseries The Book of Negroes, based on bestselling novel by Lawrence Hill. She received critical acclaim and a Critic’s Choice Award nomination for Best Actress in a Movie/Miniseries. From 2015 to 2017, she starred as Miranda Shaw in the ABC thriller series Quantico. In 2016, Ellis played Nancy Turner, Nat Turner’s mother, in the period drama film The Birth of a Nation. In 2019, she received Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie nomination for her performance in the Netflix miniseries When They See Us. She is starring in the upcoming HBO drama series Lovecraft Country.
Laverne CoxLaverne Cox (born May 29, 1972) is an American actress and LGBTQ+ advocate.She rose to prominence with her role as Sophia Burset on the Netflix series Orange Is the New Black, becoming the first openly transgender person to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in any acting category,and the first to be nominated for an Emmy Award since composer Angela Morley in 1990. In 2015, she won a Daytime Emmy Award in Outstanding Special Class Special as executive producer for Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word,making her the first openly transgender woman to win the award. In 2017, she became the first transgender person to play a transgender series regular on broadcast TV as Cameron Wirth on CBS‘s Doubt.
Cox appeared as a contestant on the first season of VH1’s reality show I Want to Work for Diddy, and co-produced and co-hosted the VH1 makeover television series TRANSform Me. In April 2014, Cox was honored by GLAAD with its Stephen F. Kolzak Award for her work as an advocate for the transgender community. In June 2014, Cox became the first openly transgender person to appear on the cover of Time magazine.[6][13][14] Cox is the first openly transgender person to appear on the cover of a Cosmopolitan magazine, with her February 2018 cover on the South African edition.She is also the first openly transgender person to have a wax figure of herself at Madame Tussauds.
| 2020 | Bad Hair | Virgie | |
| 2020 | Promising Young Woman | Gail | |
| 2020 | Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen | Herself | Also executive producer |
| TBA | Jolt | Detective Nevin | Post-production |
| 2021 | In the Heights | Benny | Post-production |
| TBA | The Tragedy of Macbeth | Macduff | Filming |
| 2020 | Survive | Paul | Lead role; 12 episodes |
| 2020 | Americanah | Blaine | Upcoming miniseries |
Donald Frank Cheadle Jr. born November 29, 1964) is an American actor, author, director, producer and writer. Following early roles in Hamburger Hill (1987), and as the gangster “Rocket” in the film Colors (1988), Cheadle built his career in the 1990s with roles in Devil in a Blue Dress (1995), Rosewood (1997), and Boogie Nights (1997). His collaboration with director Steven Soderbergh resulted in the films Out of Sight (1998), Traffic (2000), and The Ocean’s Trilogy (2001–2007).
Cheadle was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his lead role as Rwandan hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina in the historical genocide drama film Hotel Rwanda (2004). From 2012 to 2016, he starred as Marty Kaan on the Showtime comedy series House of Lies; he won a Golden Globe Award in 2013 for the role. Since 2019, Cheadle has starred as Maurice Monroe in the Showtime series Black Monday, a role which earned him a Primetime Emmy Award nomination in 2019.
Cheadle extended his global recognition with his role as the superhero War Machine in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, replacing Terrence Howard. He appeared in Iron Man 2 (2010), Iron Man 3 (2013), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Captain Marvel (2019), and Avengers: Endgame (2019).
Octavia Spencer
her portrayal Madam C. J. Walker in the Netflix limited series Self Made
Octavia Lenora Spencer (born May 25, 1970) is an American actress, author, and producer. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards. She is one of two women of color to have received three Oscar nominations and the first black actress to receive two consecutive nominations.
Spencer made her film debut in the 1996 drama A Time to Kill. Following a decade of brief roles in film and television, her breakthrough came in 2011, when she played a maid in 1960s America in The Help, for which she won several awards, including the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. For her performance in Ryan Coogler’s biopic Fruitvale Station (2013), she won the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Spencer received further Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress for playing other women in 1960s America, the mathematician Dorothy Vaughan in the biographical drama Hidden Figures (2016), and a cleaning woman in the fantasy drama The Shape of Water (2017). She also appeared in the films Smashed (2012), Snowpiercer (2013), Get on Up (2014), The Divergent Series (2015–16), Gifted (2017), Instant Family (2018), and Onward (2020); and had starring roles in The Shack (2017), Luce (2019), and Ma (2019).
Spencer also had a recurring role in the CBS sitcom Mom (2013–15) and a starring role in the Fox teen drama series Red Band Society (2014–15). She portrays the lead role in the Apple TV+ drama series Truth Be Told (2019–present), and received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for her portrayal Madam C. J. Walker in the Netflix limited series Self Made (2020). As an author, Spencer created the children’s book series Randi Rhodes, Ninja Detective. She has published two books in the series, titled The Case of the Time-Capsule Bandit (2013) and The Sweetest Heist in History (2015).
| 2020 | Dolittle | Dab-Dab (voice) | Stephen Gaghan | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Onward | The “Corey” Manticore (voice) | Dan Scanlon | ||
| The One and Only Ivan | TBA (voice) | Thea Sharrock | ||
| 2021 | The Witches | The Grandmother | Robert Zemeckis | Post-production |
| TBA | Thunder Force | Emily Stanton | Ben Falcone | Post-production |
Zendaya Maree Stoermer Coleman born September 1, 1996) is an American actress and singer. She began her career as a child model and backup dancer, before gaining prominence for her role as Rocky Blue on the Disney Channel sitcom Shake It Up (2010–2013).
In 2013, Zendaya was a contestant on the sixteenth season of the competition series Dancing with the Stars. From 2015 to 2018, she produced and starred as K.C. Cooper in the sitcom K.C. Undercover, and in 2019, she began playing the lead role in the HBO drama series Euphoria, for which she garnered critical praise as well as nominations for a Critics’ Choice Award and a Primetime Emmy Award. Her film roles include supporting parts in the musical drama The Greatest Showman (2017) and the superhero films Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) and Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019).
Zendaya began her career in music by recording songs independently and releasing the singles “Swag It Out” and “Watch Me” in 2011, the latter a collaboration with Bella Thorne. She signed with Hollywood Records in 2012 and later released her debut single, “Replay”, which reached number 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States. In 2013, her self-titled debut studio album debuted at number 51 on the Billboard 200 chart. “Rewrite the Stars”, taken from the soundtrack to The Greatest Showman, was released as a single in 2018. It reached the top twenty of the UK and Australian national charts and was certified platinum in the UK and US and double platinum in Australia.
| 2020 | Dune | Chani | Post-production |
| TBA | Malcolm & Marie | Marie | Post-production |
Ross is the daughter of actress and Motown recording artist Diana Ross and her ex-husband Robert Ellis Silberstein. She began acting in independent films and variety series. She hosted the pop-culture magazine The Dish on Lifetime. From 2000 to 2008, she played the starring role of Joan Clayton in the UPN/CW comedy series Girlfriends, for which she received two NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series. She also has appeared in the films Hanging Up (2000), I-See-You.Com (2006), and Daddy’s Little Girls (2007), before returning to television playing Dr. Carla Reed on the BET sitcom Reed Between the Lines (2011), for which she received her third NAACP Image Award.
Since 2014, Ross has played the starring role of Dr. Rainbow Johnson in the ABC comedy series Black-ish. Her work on the series has earned her three NAACP Image Awards and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy. She has also received nominations for two Critics’ Choice Television Awards and three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. In 2019, she co-created a prequel spin-off of Black-ish titled Mixed-ish. In 2020, Ross starred and recorded the soundtrack album for the musical film, The High Note.
Billy Porter (born September 21, 1969) is an American Broadway theater performer, singer, and actor. He attended the Musical Theater program at Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts School’s School of Drama, graduated from Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama, and achieved fame performing on Broadway before starting a solo career as a singer and actor.
Porter won the 2013 Best Actor in a Musical for his role as Lola in Kinky Boots at the 67th Tony Awards. He credits the part for “cracking open” his feminine side to confront toxic masculinity. For the role, Porter also won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical and Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical. In 2014 Porter won the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album for Kinky Boots. He currently stars in the television series Pose for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and won the 2019 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, becoming the first openly gay black man to be nominated and win in any lead acting category at the Primetime Emmys.
| 2020 | Like a Boss | Barrett | |
| 2021 | Cinderella | Fairy Godmother | Filming[6 |
Andre Keith Braugher born July 1, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his starring roles as Frank Pembleton in the police drama series Homicide: Life on the Street (1993–1998) and its companion television film Homicide: The Movie (2000), Owen Thoreau Jr. in the comedy-drama series Men of a Certain Age (2009–2011), and Raymond Holt in the sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2013–present). Braugher has received two Primetime Emmy Awards, from ten nominations, and two Golden Globe Award nominations.
Braugher is also known for his supporting roles in various films, including Glory (1989), Primal Fear (1996), City of Angels (1998), Frequency (2000), Poseidon (2006), The Mist (2007), Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007), and The Gambler (2014).
Samira Denise Wiley (born April 15, 1987) is an American actress. She is best known for her starring role as Poussey Washington in the Netflix comedy-drama series Orange Is the New Black (2013–2019) and as Moira in the Hulu dystopian drama series The Handmaid’s Tale (2017–present), for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series.
Wiley also had starring roles in such film as The Sitter (2011), Nerve (2016), Detroit (2017), and Social Animals (2018). She also narrated the Netflix documentary Night on Earth (2020).
| 2021 | Bios | Weaver | Post-production |
| TBA | Breaking News in Yuba County | Post-production | |
| Red, White and Water | Post-production |
Anthony Anderson (born August 15, 1970)is an American actor, comedian, writer, and game show host. He has starred in his own short-lived sitcom, All About the Andersons, as well as the ABC sitcom Black-ish and the Fox sitcom The Bernie Mac Show during its fifth and final season. He is known for his leading roles in drama series K-Ville, The Shield and as NYPD Detective Kevin Bernard on Law & Order. He had major roles in feature films such as Me, Myself & Irene (2000), Kangaroo Jack (2003), Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London (2004), The Departed (2006), Transformers (2007), and Scream 4 (2011).
Anderson is also a regular judge on Food Network’s Iron Chef America. Since September 2014, he has served as an executive producer and starred as Andre Johnson on the ABC sitcom Black-ish. Since June 2016, he has served as host of the ABC version of the game show To Tell the Truth. In addition, he has served as guest panelist for various game shows.
| 2020 | Extreme Makeover: Home Edition | Himself | Guest |
| 2020 | #KidsTogether: The Nickelodeon Town Hall | Himself | Television special |
| 2020 | Who Wants to Be a Millionaire | Himself | Guest |
Melanie Thandiwe Newton (born 6 November 1972), known professionally as Thandie Newton is an English actress. Newton is known for her starring roles, such as the title character in Beloved (1998), Nyah Nordoff-Hall in Mission: Impossible 2 (2000), Christine in Crash (2004), for which she received a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, The Chronicles of Riddick Dame Vaako 2003
Linda in The Pursuit of Happyness (2006), Stella in RockNRolla (2008), Condoleezza Rice in W. (2008), Laura Wilson in 2012 (2009), and Val in Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018).
Since 2016, Newton has played the sentient android, the madam Maeve Millay, in the HBO science fiction-western series Westworld, for which she earned a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series and two Critics Choice Awards, as well as Golden Globe Award, Saturn Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations. In 2017, she portrayed DCI Roz Huntley in the BBC drama series Line of Duty, which earned her a nomination for the British Academy Television Award for Best Actress.
Newton was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2019 New Year Honours for services to film and to charity.
| 2021 | Reminiscence | Post-production |
| 2020 | RuPaul’s Drag Race season 12 | Self | Episode 2: Guest judge |
Laurence John Fishburne III (born July 30, 1961) is an American actor, playwright, producer, screenwriter, and film director. He is known for playing Morpheus in The Matrix trilogy (1999, 2003) Jason “Furious” Styles in the drama film Boyz n the Hood (1991), Tyrone “Mr. Clean” Miller in the war film Apocalypse Now (1979), and “The Bowery King” in the John Wick film series (2017–).
For his portrayal of Ike Turner in What’s Love Got to Do With It (1993), Fishburne was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. He won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performance in Two Trains Running (1992), and an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his performance in TriBeCa (1993). Fishburne became the first African American to portray Othello in a motion picture by a major studio when he appeared in Oliver Parker’s 1995 film adaptation of the Shakespeare play.
Other film credits of Fishburne include The Color Purple (1985), School Daze (1988), King of New York (1990), Deep Cover (1992), Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993), Event Horizon (1997), Akeelah and the Bee (2006), Contagion (2011), Man of Steel (2013), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) and Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018). On television, he starred as Dr. Raymond Langston on the CBS crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2008–2011), as Special Agent Jack Crawford in the NBC thriller series Hannibal (2013–2015) and as Earl “Pops” Johnson in the ABC sitcom Black-ish (2014–present).
| 2020 | #FreeRayshawn | Lt. Steven Poincy | 15 episodes | |
| 2020 | Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur | — | Co-creator and executive producer |
Mahershala AliMahershala Ali born Mahershalalhashbaz Gilmore; February 16, 1974) is an American actor and former rapper. He is the recipient of several accolades, including two Academy Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, a BAFTA award, and a Golden Globe Award. Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2019.
After pursuing an MFA degree from New York University, Ali began his career as a regular on television series, such as Crossing Jordan (2001–2002) and Threat Matrix (2003–2004), before his breakthrough role as Richard Tyler in the science fiction series The 4400 (2004–2007). His first major film release was in the David Fincher-directed fantasy The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008). He gained wider attention for his supporting role in the Netflix political thriller series House of Cards (2013–2016), as Boggs in the final two films of The Hunger Games film series, and as Cornell “Cottonmouth” Stokes in the Luke Cage series.
Ali won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performances as Juan in the drama film Moonlight (2016) and for his portrayal of Don Shirley in the comedy-drama film Green Book (2018). This made him the first black actor to win two Academy Awards in the same category.In 2019, he played the lead role of a troubled police officer in the third season of the HBO anthology crime series True Detective. In 2020, he starred in the second season of the Hulu comedy-drama series Ramy.
Stephan JamesStephan James (born December 16, 1993) is a Canadian actor. After starring in a string of television series as a teenager, he rose to prominence upon winning a Canadian Screen Award for Best Actor for his role as track and field sprinter Jesse Owens in the 2016 film Race.
In 2018, he starred in Barry Jenkins’ acclaimed drama film If Beale Street Could Talk, based on the James Baldwin novel of the same name. Also that year, he portrayed Walter Cruz in the Amazon series Homecoming, for which he received a Golden Globe Award nomination.
Kenan Thompson born May 10, 1978) is an American actor and comedian. He has been a cast member of the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live since 2003, making him the longest-tenured cast member in the show’s history.
Thompson began his acting career in the early 1990s, and earned fame as an original cast member of Nickelodeon’s sketch comedy series All That. In this time, he often collaborated with All That costar Kel Mitchell. In 1996, they began starring in their own sitcom Kenan & Kel (1996–2000). Thompson is also known for his roles in The Mighty Ducks franchise, Good Burger, and the title character in the 2004 film Fat Albert.
He has received a Primetime Emmy Award from three nominations for his work on SNL,and is ranked at #88 on VH1’s 100 Greatest Teen Stars.
| 2020 | Trolls World Tour | Tiny Diamond | Voice |
| 2020 | Clifford the Big Red Dog | Post-production | |
| TBA | Spinning Gold | Berry Gordy | |
| TBA | Hubie Halloween | ||
| TBA | Home Alone | Filming |
| 2021 | Kenan | TBA | Main role |
Giancarlo Giuseppe Alessandro Esposito is an Italian-American actor and director. He is best known for portraying Gus Fring in the AMC drama series Breaking Bad (2009–2011) and Better Call Saul (2017–present), for which he won a Critics’ Choice Television Award and earned three nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.
Esposito’s other television roles include Federal Agent Mike Giardello in the NBC police drama series Homicide: Life on the Street (1998–1999), Sidney Glass / Magic Mirror in the ABC supernatural drama series Once Upon a Time (2011–2017), Tom Neville in the NBC science fiction drama series Revolution (2012–2014), Dr. Edward Ruskins in the Netflix comedy-drama series Dear White People (2017–present), and Moff Gideon in the Disney+ space western drama series The Mandalorian (2019–present), the lattermost of which earned him a Primetime Emmy Award nomination.
He is also known for his appearances in several Spike Lee films, such as School Daze (1988), Do the Right Thing (1989), Mo’ Better Blues (1990), and Malcolm X (1992). Esposito’s other major films include King of New York (1990), Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man (1991), Fresh (1994), The Usual Suspects (1995), Ali (2001), Last Holiday (2006), Gospel Hill (2008), Rabbit Hole (2010), The Jungle Book (2016), Money Monster (2016), Okja (2017), Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018), and Stargirl (2020).
| 2020 | Stargirl | Archie | |
| TBA | The Long Home | William Tell Oliver | Post-production |
| 2019–present | Harley Quinn | Lex Luthor (voice) | 4 episodes |
| 2019–present | The Mandalorian | Moff Gideon | 2 episodes |
Jeffrey Wright (born December 7, 1965) is an American actor. He is best known for his Tony, Golden Globe and Emmy winning role as Belize in the Broadway production and acclaimed HBO miniseries Angels in America. He starred as Jean-Michel Basquiat in Basquiat, Felix Leiter in the James Bond films Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace and No Time to Die, Valentin Narcisse in the HBO series Boardwalk Empire, and Beetee in The Hunger Games films. Since 2016, Wright has starred as Bernard Lowe and Arnold Weber in the HBO series Westworld.
His next role is as Commissioner James “Jim” Gordon in the superhero film The Batman (2021) by Matt Reeves, making him the first black actor to portray the character.
| 2020 | All Day and a Night | J.D. | |
| No Time to Die | Felix Leiter | Post-production | |
| 2021 | The Batman | James Gordon | Filming |
| TBA | The French Dispatch | Roebuck Wright | Post-production |
Ron Cephas Jones (born January 8, 1957) is an American actor. He is best known for his role in the drama series This Is Us (2016–present), which earned him four consecutive Primetime Emmy Award nominations, winning one for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series in 2018.
Jones appeared in television series such as Mr. Robot (2015–2016), The Get Down (2016–2017), Luke Cage (2016–2018), and Truth Be Told (2019). He also appeared in a number of films, including Half Nelson (2006), Across the Universe (2007), Glass Chin (2014), The Holiday Calendar (2018), Dog Days (2018), and Dolemite Is My Name (2019).
Maya Khabira Rudolph (born July 27, 1972) is an American actress, comedian, and singer. She first gained prominence in the mid-1990s as a member of the alternative rock band The Rentals, before joining The Groundlings improv troupe later in the decade. In 2000, Rudolph became a cast member on the NBC late-night sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live and subsequently appeared in supporting roles in films such as 50 First Dates (2004), A Prairie Home Companion (2006), and Idiocracy (2006)
After leaving Saturday Night Live in 2007, Rudolph appeared in various films, including Grown Ups (2010) and its 2013 sequel, Bridesmaids (2011), Inherent Vice (2014), Sisters (2015), CHiPs (2017), Life of the Party (2018), and Wine Country (2019). She also lent her voice to the animated films Shrek the Third (2007), Big Hero 6 (2014), The Angry Birds Movie (2016) and its 2019 sequel, The Emoji Movie (2017), and The Willoughbys (2020).
In addition to her film appearances, Rudolph starred as Ava Alexander in the NBC sitcom Up All Night (2011-2012), and co-hosted her own variety series Maya & Marty (2016) with Martin Short. Since 2017, she has voiced various characters in the Big Mouth animated series. Since 2018, Rudolph has appeared in the NBC fantasy comedy series The Go
| 2020 | The Willoughbys | Nanny (voice) | |
| Connected | Linda Mitchell (voice) | ||
| TBA | Hubie Halloween | Post-production |
Phylicia Rashād ( Ayers-Allen; born June 19, 1948) is an American actress, singer and stage director. She is known for her role as Clair Huxtable on the NBC sitcom The Cosby Show (1984–92), which earned her Emmy Award nominations in 1985 and 1986. She was dubbed “The Mother Of The Black Community“ at the 2010 NAACP Image Awards.
In 2004, Rashad became the first black actress to win the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play, which she won for her role in the revival of A Raisin in the Sun.[1][2] Her other Broadway credits include Into the Woods (1988), Jelly’s Last Jam (1993), Gem of the Ocean (2004), and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (2008). She won a NAACP Image Award when she reprised her A Raisin in the Sun role in the 2008 television adaptation. She has also appeared in the films For Colored Girls (2010), Good Deeds (2012), Creed (2015), and Creed II (2018).
| 2020 | The Rhythm Section | Marc Serra | Reed Morano | |
| Rise | Willie Davis | Kevin Rodney Sullivan |
| 2019–20 | One Day at Disney | Narrator | 52 episodes |
| 2020 | Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts | Lio Oak (voice) | Main role |
Jinx 