Black Actresses You Don’t Know But Should is a blog that is dedicated to shining a light on some of the best and most talented black actresses you may never have heard of or seen on the big screen. We are dedicated to finding and introducing you to these talented ladies so that they can get their just due.

The idea for this blog came from the fact that I am an avid fan of black cinema, however, I was becoming frustrated with seeing the same actresses being cast over and over in movies, on television and in commercials. The more I researched why these actresses were getting all the work, I came to discover that many of them are related to either an executive, producer or director.

I thought to myself, there has got to be some other amazing black actresses out there that are just as good if not better than those working consistently. I began doing research on black actresses, looking at their body of work, watching interviews with them and their performances. I was amazed at how many talented black females were out there.

And so Black Actresses You Don’t Know But Should was born!

5 Black Actresses You Don’t Know But Should

There is a common misconception that there are not enough Black actresses in Hollywood. While this may have been true in the past, it’s definitely not the case now. I’m aware that the media has put these women on a pedestal and praised them for their roles but I feel like we’re forgetting the women that paved the way for them. These are 5 actresses you may not recognize but should.

1.) Vanessa Williams

Vanessa Williams was born in 1963 and she starred in a number of movies over the years including Eraser, Dance with Me, Shaft, and Johnson Family Vacation. She is still acting today and you might know her from her role on Ugly Betty.

2.) Loretta Devine

Loretta Devine was born in 1949 and she starred in a number of movies over the years including Waiting to Exhale, I Am Sam, Woman Thou Art Loosed!, For Colored Girls, This Christmas and Jumping the Broom. She is still acting today and you might know her from her role on Grey’s Anatomy.

3.) Angela Bassett

Angela Bassett was born in 1958 and she starred

When you think of black actresses, a few names come to mind. Viola Davis, Halle Berry and Angela Bassett are some of the most well-known black actresses in Hollywood. But there are plenty of others who aren’t as widely known but who have starred in movies and television shows that you likely have seen or at least heard about. Let’s take a look at 5 black actresses you don’t know but should.

Nia Long

Nia Long is one of those familiar faces you can’t quite place. You know you’ve seen her before, but where? Well she has been in quite a few movies over the years that you may have seen. She has starred in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Love Jones and Boyz n the Hood; she played Queenie in the HBO series I Hate My Teenage Daughter and starred alongside Will Smith in The Pursuit of Happyness. If you still can’t picture her right away, it might help to know that she is a real-life friend of Sanaa Lathan, who people may recognize from Love & Basketball and The Best Man Holiday.

Zoe Saldana

If Zoe Saldana looks familiar to you but you

Around the same time I saw this movie, I also saw the new one with Lupita Nyong’o and Viola Davis, which although great, was an annoying reminder of how few black women there are in movies.

Sure, there are some that we all know about: Halle Berry, Angela Bassett, Octavia Spencer, Queen Latifah. But beyond that? Not so much. And not just in terms of race, but age too. Pretty much everyone who is famous and a black actress is young. There aren’t any older ones (e.g., over 40) that seem to be very well-known. And it’s not because they don’t exist—there are plenty of black actresses out there who I had never heard of before starting this blog and yet are amazing in every way!

So below I’m writing about 5 black actresses you probably don’t know but should.

If you watch a lot of movies and TV, you know the names and faces of many black actresses. But there are many others whose names may not be familiar to you but should be. Here are five who fit that bill.

Tessa Thompson

Tessa Thompson got her start in acting in the mid-2000s with guest roles on TV shows such as Cold Case, Grey’s Anatomy and Veronica Mars. She got her first starring film role in 2008 with the movie Mississippi Damned, which was not widely seen but received strong reviews and won a number of awards. Since then, she has had roles in lead or supporting roles in several films per year, including playing Jackie Cook in the short-lived TV series Veronica Mars (no relation to the movie).

Thompson has been working non-stop since 2012, when she appeared in four projects: Red Tails (a George Lucas film about the Tuskegee Airmen), For Colored Girls (Tyler Perry’s adaptation of Ntozake Shange’s play), and two indie films, When a Stranger Calls and The Insomniac. In 2013 she appeared in six films, including Thor: The Dark World, Dear White People (an award-winning indie about

“Black actresses need to be seen as more than just “black actresses”. Diversity in film is not a trend, it’s a necessity. As black women in the entertainment industry, we are constantly fed the same narrative: you are either dispensable or completely invisible.”

-Yara Shahidi

As a black woman in the entertainment industry, I am often fed the same narrative: You are either dispensable or completely invisible. While projects such as

In the wake of the