NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture


This article lists the winners and nominees for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture. The award has also been called Outstanding Lead Actress in a Motion Picture. Out of 12 films which featured African-Americans in leading roles in 1980, Cicely Tyson was the only female in that category. She played opposite Richard Pryor in Bustin' Loose. Because of this, she and officials at the annual NAACP Image Awards program decided that she should not accept the award.

Winners and nominees

For each year in the tables below, the winner is listed first and highlighted in bold.

2000s

YearActressFilm
2000Nia LongThe Best Man
2000Monica CalhounThe Best Man
2000Rosario DawsonLight It Up
2000Lisa Gay HamiltonTrue Crime
2000Debbi MorganThe Hurricane
2001Sanaa LathanLove and Basketball
2001Angela BassettBoesman and Lena
2001Nia LongBig Momma's House
2001Jada Pinkett SmithBamboozled
2001Vanessa WilliamsShaft
2002Halle BerrySwordfish
2002Vivica A. FoxTwo Can Play That Game
2002Whoopi GoldbergKingdom Come
2002Regina KingDown to Earth
2002Alfre WoodardK-PAX
2003Angela BassettSunshine State
2003Vivica A. FoxJuwanna Mann
2003Sanaa LathanBrown Sugar
2003Jennifer LopezMaid in Manhattan
2003Thandie NewtonThe Truth About Charlie
2004Queen LatifahBringing Down the House
2004Halle BerryGothika
2004BeyoncéThe Fighting Temptations
2004Keisha Castle-HughesWhale Rider
2004Gabrielle UnionDeliver Us from Eva
2005Kerry WashingtonRay
2005Angela BassettMr. 3000
2005Kimberly EliseWoman Thou Art Loosed
2005Irma P. HallThe Ladykillers
2005Gabrielle UnionBreakin' All the Rules
2006Kimberly EliseDiary of a Mad Black Woman
2006Rosario DawsonRent
2006Queen LatifahBeauty Shop
2006Zoe SaldañaGuess Who
2006Zhang ZiyiMemoirs of a Geisha
2007Keke PalmerAkeelah and the Bee
2007BeyoncéDreamgirls
2007Penélope CruzVolver
2007Sanaa LathanSomething New
2007Queen LatifahLast Holiday
2008Jurnee SmollettThe Great Debaters
2008Halle BerryThings We Lost in the Fire
2008Taraji P. HensonTalk to Me
2008Angelina JolieA Mighty Heart
2008Jill ScottWhy Did I Get Married?
2009Rosario DawsonSeven Pounds
2009Angela BassettMeet the Browns
2009Dakota FanningThe Secret Life of Bees
2009Queen LatifahThe Secret Life of Bees
2009Alfre WoodardThe Family That Preys

2010s

YearActressFilm
2010Gabourey SidibePrecious
2010Sandra BullockThe Blind Side
2010Taraji P. HensonI Can Do Bad All By Myself
2010Sophie OkonedoSkin
2010Anika Noni RoseThe Princess and the Frog
2011Halle BerryFrankie & Alice
2011Janet JacksonWhy Did I Get Married Too?
2011Queen LatifahJust Wright
2011Zoe SaldañaThe Losers
2011Kerry WashingtonNight Catches Us
2012Viola DavisThe Help
2012Paula PattonJumping the Broom
2012Adepero OduyePariah
2012Zoe SaldañaColombiana
2012Emma StoneThe Help
2013Viola DavisWon't Back Down
2013Halle BerryCloud Atlas
2013Emayatzy CorinealdiMiddle of Nowhere
2013Loretta DevineIn the Hive
2013Quvenzhané WallisBeasts of the Southern Wild
2014Angela BassettBlack Nativity
2014Nicole Beharie42
2014Halle BerryThe Call
2014Jennifer HudsonWinnie Mandela
2014Kerry WashingtonPeeples
2015Taraji P. HensonNo Good Deed
2015Viola DavisThe Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby
2015Gugu Mbatha-RawBelle
2015Tessa ThompsonDear White People
2015Quvenzhané WallisAnnie
2016Sanaa LathanThe Perfect Guy
2016Viola DavisLila & Eve
2016Keke PalmerBrotherly Love
2016Teyonah ParrisChi-Raq
2016Zoe SaldañaInfinitely Polar Bear
2017Taraji P. HensonHidden Figures
2017Angela BassettLondon Has Fallen
2017Madina NalwangaQueen of Katwe
2017Ruth NeggaLoving
2017Tika SumpterSouthside with You
2018Octavia SpencerGifted
2018Halle BerryKidnap
2018Danai GuriraAll Eyez on Me
2018Natalie PaulCrown Heights
2018Amandla StenbergEverything, Everything
2019Amandla StenbergThe Hate U Give
2019Viola DavisWidows
2019Sanaa LathanNappily Ever After
2019KiKi LayneIf Beale Street Could Talk
2019Constance WuCrazy Rich Asians

Multiple wins and nominations

Wins

; 5 wins
; 4 wins
; 2 wins

Nominations

; 11 nominations
; 9 nominations
; 7 nominations
; 6 nominations
; 5 nominations
; 4 nominations
; 3 nominations
; 2 nominations