Black Reel Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress

The Black Reel Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress was an award presented annually by the Black Reel Awards (BRAs). It was given to honor an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a supporting role while working within the film industry.

Black Reel Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress
Awarded for	Outstanding Supporting Actress
Country	United States
Presented by	Black Reel Awards (BRAs)
First award	2000
Final award	2023
Final winner	Angela Bassett Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Most awards	Viola Davis (2)
Most nominations	Octavia Spencer (6)
Website	blackreelawards.com

Erykah Badu was the first winner of The Cider House Rules at the 1st Annual Black Reel Awards in 2000. Since its inception, the award has been given out to 21 actresses. Viola Davis is the current record holder with most wins in this category with two, while Octavia Spencer holds the record for most nominations in this category with six. Janelle Monáe and Kerry Washington have the most nominations in this category without a win. Monáe is the only actress to earn multiple nominations in the same year for Moonlight and Hidden Figures at the 17th Annual Black Reel Awards.

Gloria Foster became the first posthumous acting nominee in Black Reel Awards history when she earned a nomination for The Matrix Reloaded at the 4th Annual Black Reel Awards. Eartha Kitt is the first and only actress to earn a nomination in this category for an animated performance prior to the introduction of the Outstanding Voice Performance category in 2009.

At age 25, Jennifer Hudson became the youngest winner in this category for Dreamgirls and at age 62, Phylicia Rashad became the oldest winner in this category for For Colored Girls.

The award was discontinued at the 24th Black Reel Awards and merged with Outstanding Supporting Actor in favor of a single gender-neutral award, Outstanding Supporting Performance.^[1]

Winners and nominees

Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold.

2000s

Year	Actress	Film	Ref
2000
	Erykah Badu	The Cider House Rules	[2]
	Angela Bassett	Music of the Heart
	Lisa Gay Hamilton	True Crime
	Rebekah Johnson	Liberty Heights
	Queen Latifah	The Bone Collector
2001
	Gabrielle Union	Bring It On	[3]
	Lisa Bonet	High Fidelity
	Eartha Kitt	The Emperor's New Groove
	Nia Long	Boiler Room
	Sheryl Lee Ralph	Deterrence
2002
	Nona Gaye	Ali	[4]
	Marla Gibbs	The Visit
	Adrienne-Joi Johnson	Baby Boy
	Gabrielle Union	The Brothers
	Kerry Washington	Save the Last Dance
2003
	Queen Latifah	Chicago	[5]
	Halle Berry	Die Another Day
	Joy Bryant	Antwone Fisher
	Viola Davis	Solaris
	Rosario Dawson	25th Hour
2004
	Anna Deavere Smith	The Human Stain	[6]
	Mary Alice	The Matrix Revolutions
	Gloria Foster (posthumous)	The Matrix Reloaded
	Vivica A. Fox	Kill Bill: Volume 1
	Michael Michele	Dark Blue
2005
	Sharon Warren	Ray	[7]
	Joy Bryant	BAADASSSSS!
	Kimberly Elise	The Manchurian Candidate
	Nia Long	Alfie
	Jada Pinkett Smith	Collateral
2006
	Taraji P. Henson	Hustle & Flow	[8]
	Rosario Dawson	Sin City
	Thandie Newton	Crash
	Wanda Sykes	Monster-in-Law
	Tracie Thoms	Rent
2007
	Jennifer Hudson	Dreamgirls	[9]
	Clare-Hope Ashitey	Children of Men
	Angela Bassett	Akeelah and the Bee
	Shareeka Epps	Half Nelson
	Kerry Washington	The Last King of Scotland
2008
	Viola Davis	Doubt	[10]
	Alice Braga	Blindness
	Penélope Cruz	Vicky Cristina Barcelona
	Taraji P. Henson	The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
	Sophie Okonedo	The Secret Life of Bees

2010s

Year	Actress	Film	Ref
2010
	Mo'Nique	Precious	[11]
	Mariah Carey	Precious
	Paula Patton
	Zoe Saldana	Avatar
	Alfre Woodard	American Violet
2011
	Phylicia Rashad	For Colored Girls	[12]
	Viola Davis	Eat Pray Love
	Shareeka Epps	Mother and Child
	Janet Jackson	For Colored Girls
	Kerry Washington
2012
	Octavia Spencer	The Help	[13]
	Angela Bassett	Jumping the Broom
	Maya Rudolph	Bridesmaids
	Pernell Walker	Pariah
	Kim Wayans
2013
	Naomie Harris	Skyfall	[14]
	Octavia Spencer	Smashed
	Lorraine Toussaint	Middle of Nowhere
	Tamara Tunie	Flight
	Kerry Washington	Django Unchained
2014
	Lupita Nyong'o	12 Years a Slave	[15]
	Melonie Diaz	Fruitvale Station
	Naomie Harris	Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
	Octavia Spencer	Fruitvale Station
	Oprah Winfrey	The Butler
2015
	Carmen Ejogo	Selma	[16]
	Viola Davis	The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby
	Teyonah Parris	Dear White People
	Zoe Saldana	Guardians of the Galaxy
	Octavia Spencer	Snowpiercer
2016
	Tessa Thompson	Creed	[17]
	Angela Bassett	Chi-Raq
	Zoë Kravitz	Dope
	Gugu Mbatha-Raw	Concussion
	Mya Taylor	Tangerine
2017
	Viola Davis	Fences	[18]
	Naomie Harris	Moonlight
	Janelle Monáe	Hidden Figures
		Moonlight
	Lupita Nyong'o	Queen of Katwe
2018
	Tiffany Haddish	Girls Trip	[19][20]
	Betty Gabriel	Get Out
	Mary J. Blige	Mudbound
	Octavia Spencer	The Shape of Water
	Tessa Thompson	Thor: Ragnarok
2019
	Regina King	If Beale Street Could Talk	[21]
	Letitia Wright	Black Panther
	Danai Gurira
	Lupita Nyong'o
	Simone Missick	Jinn

2020s

Year	Actress	Film	Ref
2020
	Da’Vine Joy Randolph	Dolemite Is My Name	[22]
	Janelle Monae	Harriet
	Shahadi Wright Joseph	Us
	Octavia Spencer	Luce
	Taylor Russell	Waves
2021
	Dominique Fishback	Judas and the Black Messiah	[23]
	Alexis Chikaeze	Miss Juneteenth
	KiKi Layne	The Old Guard
	Tracee Ellis Ross	The High Note
	Gabourey Sidibe	Antebellum
2022
	Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor	King Richard	[24]
	Ariana DeBose	West Side Story
	Regina King	The Harder They Fall
	Rita Moreno	West Side Story
	Ruth Negga	Passing
2023
	Angela Bassett	Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
	Thuso Mbedu	The Woman King
	Janelle Monáe	Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
	Keke Palmer	Nope
	Gabrielle Union	The Inspection

Multiple nominations and wins

Multiple wins

2 Wins

• Viola Davis

Multiple nominations

6 Nominations Octavia Spencer 5 Nominations Angela Bassett Viola Davis 4 Nominations Janelle Monae Kerry Washington 3 Nominations Naomie Harris Lupita Nyong'o Gabrielle Union

2 Nominations Joy Bryant Rosario Dawson Shareeka Epps Taraji P. Henson Regina King Queen Latifah Nia Long Zoe Saldana Tessa Thompson

Multiple nominations from the same film

• Mo'Nique (winner), Mariah Carey and Paula Patton in Precious (2010)
• Phylicia Rashad (winner), Janet Jackson and Kerry Washington in For Colored Girls (2011)
• Pernell Walker and Kim Wayans in Pariah (2011)
• Naomie Harris & Janelle Monae in Moonlight (2017)
• Danai Gurira, Lupita Nyong'o & Letitia Wright in Black Panther (2019)
• Ariana DeBose & Rita Moreno in West Side Story (2022)

Age superlatives

Record	Actress	Film	Age (in years)
Oldest winner	Phylicia Rashad	For Colored Girls	62
Oldest nominee	Rita Moreno	West Side Story	90
Youngest winner	Jennifer Hudson	Dreamgirls	25
Youngest nominee	Shahadi Wright Joseph	Us	14