20 of TV’s best female Black leads

Niecy Nash has done so much that it’s hard to keep up with all of her projects at once. The actress has showcased her remarkable talents in many different productions, including film and television. After finishing her run on Scream Queens with Keke Palmer, Nash starred in the TNT comedy Claws as Desna Simms, a nail salon owner who launders money to get a better shop. When she wrapped production there, she jumped into the role of Simone Clark in the ABC series The Rookie. Her work there led to a main role in the spinoff, The Rookie: Feds.

Angela Bassett has been slaying the role of Athena Grant in Ryan Murphy’s 9-1-1 on ABC since it premiered in 2018. In the past, she boasted about her love for the show and said watchers would always get to see her character dealing with the unknown.

I’ll never let you forget about Keke Palmer and her lengthy resume. The actress starred in blockbuster hits like Akeelah and the Bee and Madea’s Family Reunion. But she’s also been the face of many TV shows, including True Jackson VP and Ryan Murphy’s Scream Queens.

Yes, Brandy has had a decorated career as a musician; however, she’s also starred in quite a few legendary television productions, including the ’90s series Moesha. The show ran from 1996 to 2001, and during its time on air, Brandy starred in 127 episodes across six seasons.

I don’t see enough hype for Tika Sumpter when talking about iconic Black female leads. The actress starred in Tyler Perry’s The Haves and the Have Nots and kept viewers on the edges of their seats for eight seasons. Her success from the show brought her other gigs, including Final Space, Mixed-ish, Run the World, and the Paramount+ miniseries Knuckles. 

Tia Mowry has been an icon since her time on Sister, Sister in the ’90s. The actor starred in the series alongside her twin sister Tamera and since then, has been the face of several other productions, including The Game, Instant Mom, and Netflix’s Family Reunion. Her characters have all been strong women with hilarious personalities who have been cemented in pop culture history.

In addition to her decorated career as a movie actress, with credits in Bring It On and Cheaper by the Dozen, Gabrielle Union starred in BET’s long-running series Being Mary Jane. In the past, she’s spoken about how important playing the role was to her. “In many ways, we shared similar struggles and triumphs, loves and losses, and especially the penchant for epic reads.”

Viola Davis aced the role of Annalise Keating in ABC’s How to Get Away with Murder . During a chat with Samuel L. Jackson for Variety’s “Actors on Actors,” the award-winning actress detailed how playing the sometimes problematic lawyer on television was a blessing to her. 

“For me, with Annalise, I was given an opportunity, especially as a dark-skinned Black woman, 47 years old. She’s sexualized; she’s sociopathic. It gave me a vessel to be an unpredictable, messy woman,” she said. “… this was the first opportunity I had to play a woman. And it was in the midst of a melodrama. We can admit a lot of the situations were fantastical, but it was still my opportunity to boldly step out and make choices that could surprise people and make people really see me as a woman.”

Kerry Washington has starred in quite a few memorable TV shows, including the Shonda Rhimes classic Scandal and Hulu’s Little Fires Everywhere. In 2023, she joined the cast of the comedy-drama series UnPrisoned. In September 2024, Washington voiced her frustrations about the show’s cancellation, saying most projects won’t have the same success as Scandal. “Not everything’s going to be Scandal. Not everything’s going to hit in the exact same way. We’ve had extraordinary successes, and we’re just going to keep moving,”

Quinta Brunson created something special that everyone, especially Black viewers, could enjoy with her ABC hit Abbott Elementary. During a chat with Deadline, she described the series as similar to the beloved classics that came before it with a more diverse cast. 

“It’s a network sitcom, like, say, Friends. Except instead of being about a group of friends, it’s about a group of teachers; instead of being in New York, it’s in Philadelphia, and instead of not having Black people, it does.”

The world came to know and love Shanola Hampton during her time as Veronica on the Showtime hit Shameless. However, she recently took a leap of faith when she took on a new role in the NBC production Found. In it, she plays a crisis manager who works to find missing persons whose cases have gone cold. When discussing the new series with People, Hampton said accepting the role was by design. 

“I intentionally wanted to challenge myself while doing something that didn’t just entertain but also has social relevance,” she said. “And from the second I talked to [creator] Nkechi Okoro Carroll, I knew this was the job to take because I knew it would make a difference.”

Raven is TV royalty. It’s hard not to mention her whenever talking about actresses in this capacity.

Zendaya has been part of the Hollywood elite since she was dancing on Disney Channel as Rocky in the TV show Shake It Up. Later, her career evolved with starring roles in Dune, The Challengers, and HBO series Euphoria. The latter follows a teenage high school student struggling with sobriety. As one can imagine, the scenes could be tough to film.

Kim Fields has a lengthy resume, with credits from classic shows like The Facts of Life and Living Single. She switched things up in 2015, joining the cast of the Bravo hit The Real Housewives of Atlanta. However, after one season of uncomfortable fights with reality TV villains, the actress returned to the scripted world, starring in the Netflix show The Upshaws.

Taraji P. Henson has been a star, but she became a cultural icon when she played Cookie Lyons in the FOX series Empire. “I’m just going to forever be Cookie,” she joked during an episode of Live!

Tracee Ellis Ross was universally loved as Dr. Rainbow “Bow” Johnson on Black-ish. However, her time as Joan Clayton in Girlfriends will always be her best role (in my opinion).

Regina King has had many lead roles over the years in shows 227, The Boondocks, American Crime, Seven Seconds, and Watchmen. She’ll always be iconic.

Dr. Miranda Bailey would be nothing without the iconic actress who plays her.

Queen Latifah isn’t a newbie when it comes to lead roles in TV shows. The actor starred alongside Kim Fields in Living Single and other popular shows like Star and When the Streetlights Go On. In 2023, she returned to scripted television in CBS’ crime action show The Equalizer. In a previous interview, the actor said it “means the world to me to be in this role.” 

“Hopefully, millions of people who will tune in to watch the show will get to see what it really is like for a black woman in this position

Jackée Harry’s portrayal of Lisa Landry in the ’90s hit Sister, Sister will forever be one worth mentioning.