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Hollywood has long been a battlefield for Black actresses, who bring unmatched depth, versatility, and charisma to the screen while navigating an industry that often fails to recognize their worth. Yet, against the odds, these artists continue to shine, delivering performances that move, inspire, and challenge audiences. With that in mind, what better time than Women’s History Month to celebrate their cinematic supremacy?
An exceptional actress has the power to command an audience, whether through a tear-jerking soliloquy, a gut-busting joke, or a gripping scene that lingers long after the credits roll. Black women in Hollywood master this craft even as they face the compounded challenges of racism and sexism. These obstacles are nothing new, but they remain pressing concerns that many actresses refuse to ignore.
Viola Davis has been vocal about the disparities Black women endure—particularly when it comes to compensation and opportunity.
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“If Caucasian women are getting 50 percent of what men are getting paid, we’re not even getting a quarter of what white women are getting paid,” she once told Porter magzine. “We don’t get the same opportunities as white women. We don’t get paid the same amount of money, our careers are not as long. And if you are anywhere above 40, it’s done.”
Davis, who became the first Black actress to win an Oscar, Emmy, and Tony for acting, has continuously challenged Hollywood to recognize Black women’s contributions.
“The only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity,” she famously declared in her 2015 Emmy acceptance speech. “You cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there.”
As Viola and other trailblazers demand change, BOSSIP is celebrating the Black women in Hollywood who are captivating audiences, defying limitations, and carving out their own paths.
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Last year, we spotlighted cinema sizzlers like Ayo Edebiri, Diarra Kilpatrick, Taylor Russell, Aisha Hinds, and Lex Scott Davis, and this year, we’re adding more luminaries to the list.
Lights, camera, action!
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Here’s BOSSIP’s Bubbling Black Actresses of 2025!
Aja Naomi King Digs Into Drama In Grosse Pointe Garden Society As Her Hollywood Journey Flourishes
Aja Naomi King is already making waves in Hollywood, but 2025 is gearing up to be her biggest year yet.
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The star was born in Los Angeles, CA and grew up east of the city in Walnut. She stayed in her home state to receive a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting from the University of California, Santa Barbara, before heading to Yale University’s School of Drama, earning a Master of Fine Arts in 2010. At Yale, King performed in several productions, including A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Little Shop of Horrors, and Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes. She worked as a waitress in New York City for three years after graduating while auditioning for acting roles.
King made a name for herself in the industry on How to Get Away with Murder with her breakthrough role as Michaela Pratt in the ABC legal drama series, which aired from 2014 through 2020. She also received praise for portraying Cherry Turner in the historical film The Birth of a Nation.
She recently celebrated her first Emmy nomination for her work on Lessons in Chemistry, earning the nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie. As her character Harriet Sloane, King shined a light on what it was like to live in LA during the 1960s, telling the story of a predominantly Black neighborhood in Los Angeles that was destroyed in the 1950s to construct the Santa Monica Freeway.
While speaking with PEOPLE on the 2024 Emmy Awards red carpet, King got emotional as she reacted to her very first Emmy nomination.
“I mean, I’m doing my best not to cry. I am!” King laughed, “This is really magical. This whole experience so far, it’s just been a beautiful day, and everyone that I’m seeing on the carpet, I’m just feeling so inspired and I’m really grateful to be here.”
“It just makes me feel like, ‘Wow, dreams really do come true!’ ” she continued. “I’m so happy!”
Now, Aja is returning to television as a lead opposite Melissa Fumero, AnnaSophia Robb, and Ben Rappaport in NBC’s drama Grosse Pointe Garden Society. The series follows four members of a suburban garden club from different walks of life who get caught up in murder and mischief as they struggle to make their conventional lives bloom.
The 40-year-old recently told NBC how much playing a well-to-do woman appealed to her upon reading the script.
“I’m immediately reading it thinking, ‘oh my God, this character’s gonna look fabulous. She’s gonna be dressed so, so well!’ I was just really excited to be super dressed up and looking really cute every day,” she said. “I really loved that I was playing a wealthy person in this town because I believe it is really important that we have that image out there. Yes, Black people are rich, too, you know?”
We can’t wait to see everything Aja Naomi King has in store for the rest of 2025!
—Rebecah Jacobs
Nesta Cooper Brings Heart & Humanity To Dope Thief
Nesta Cooper shines as the talented embodiment of authenticity with leading lady looks and undeniable acting chops that make her one of Black Hollywood’s brightest emerging stars.
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Best known for her roles as Carly Shannon in the Sci-Fi series Travelers and Haniwa on Apple TV+’s early flagship series See, the Canadian actress, 31, continues to command the screen as Michelle in critically-acclaimed Drama Dope Thief.
Based on Dennis Tafoya’s book of the same name, Dope Thief follows long-time Philly pals and petty criminals who pose as DEA agents to rob an unsuspecting house in the countryside only to have their small-time operation become a life-and-death enterprise.
In true Murphy’s law fashion, things spiral out of control as they unwittingly unravel the biggest hidden narcotics corridor on the Eastern seaboard.
Check out the trailer below.
The series is created/executive produced by Oscar-nominee Peter Craig and stars Oscar-nominee Brian Tyree Henry who also serves as executive producer.
Additional cast members include Wagner Moura, Marin Ireland, Amir Arison, Ving Rhames, Kate Mulgrew, and Cooper who we caught up with in our interview below.
When asked about playing a genuinely kind lawyer in a cruel world of chaos, she told BOSSIP:
“She’s a person that grew up with parents who would take her to Civil Rights marches and has a very strong sense of right and wrong and really felt like when she was going to become a prosecutor that she was going to help take down bad guys and make the world a better place,” she said.
“And through learning that maybe sometimes the bad guys are the good guys and the good guys are the bad guys, she wiped her hands of it, went back, became a defense attorney, started taking on cases pro bono, and that’s when she meets Ray (Brian Tyree Henry).
“So she really has a lot of integrity in what she does and she has a lot of empathy towards her clients and there’s a humanity to her that was really, really, really fun to play and just felt good in my bones so I really can only credit (series creator) Peter Craig for that. He just wrote a beautiful character.”
It’s her ability to portray an emotionally intelligent character committed to helping people while unjaded by the ugliness of the world that makes her a Bubbling Black Actress to watch.
—Alex Ford
Bubbling Black Actress Aaliyah Mastin Mesmerizes In Hulu’s Paradise
Aliyah Mastin is undoubtedly an actress who you need to watch as closely as we are because she is one of the best young talents in Hollywood.
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Mastin is currently playing her part alongside Sterling K. Brown on the Hulu series Paradise as Presley Collin, the daughter of Secret Service agent Xavier Collins (Brown).
If you haven’t been watching the series, then you’re missing out on Mastin’s performance as a concerned yet very capable big sister to her little brother, James Collins, played by Percy Daggs IV. Presley becomes a very important piece of the plot as the show develops, and we’re looking forward to seeing how the story continues. It was just announced that Paradise has been renewed for season 2.
Prior to taking her talents to Hulu, Mastin starred in the 2021 music comedy Honey Girls alongside Ashanti. In it, she played Maya, one of three young singers who came together to form the eponymous pop group. The film is a feel-good, family-friendly adventure that you can watch with your kids and sing along without fear of profanity or scantily clad scenes that you’ll have to explain later.
The future is bright for Aliyah Mastin, and we’re excited to watch what’s next for this rising star!
—Jason Lee
Krys Marshall Transports Us To Paradise Every Time She Hits The Screen
Like Aaliyah Mastin, another rising Black actress is making waves in Paradise.
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Krys Marshall commands the screen in Hulu’s gripping thriller as Agent Nicole Robinson, bringing the fierce leader to life with unwavering intensity and depth. She’s captivated audiences, cementing her as a standout in one of the year’s most talked-about new series.
Marshall commands the screen in Hulu’s high-stakes political thriller set in a post-apocalyptic underground bunker where the nation’s most powerful leaders take refuge following a catastrophic attack. In the wake of President Cal Bradford’s (James Marsden) assassination, chaos erupts as the remaining government officials struggle for survival. Among them is the formidable Secret Service Agent Nicole Robinson (Marshall), who finds herself entangled in a deadly web of deception, power struggles, and an uneasy alliance with fellow agent Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown).
As Robinson leads the investigation into the president’s murder, Marshall masterfully portrays the evolution of her character, initially at odds with Collins but ultimately becoming one of the few people he can trust. Marshall relished that dynamic shift, telling The Wrap:
“We don’t understand each other, we don’t respect each other, and we certainly don’t like each other. Then as time goes on, circumstances make it so that we have nobody else to rely on but one another.”
While Marshall delivers a commanding performance throughout the series, she truly shines in the adrenaline-soaked seventh episode, which has been hailed as “one of the best episodes of TV ever” and received a perfect five stars from Vulture.
The flashback-heavy installment showcases a ruthless, unrelenting side of Robinson, revealing a fearless version of the agent unlike anything seen before. Reflecting on that transformation, Marshall told The Wrap:
“It is exciting to play a version of her that is just fearless.”
As panic unfolds around her, Robinson remains resolute while those around her begin to crack under pressure.
“We watch Cal start to buckle as he’s afraid of what the future holds, and we see Xavier on the phone with his wife, jockeying, trying to get the kids safe, and he’s starting to come apart,” Marshall explained. “And I love that, in that moment, Robinson’s like, somebody has to hold this thing together, and it’s going to have to be me.”
With her powerhouse performance, Marshall ensures that audiences will remember Robinson as a force to be reckoned with, and we can’t wait for her to take us back to Paradise in season 2.
–Dani Canada
Content shared from bossip.com.