The most famous black actors

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Black actors have long occupied an important place in modern cinema. The times of racial intolerance are long gone, and today they, along with everyone else, are fighting for the most prestigious film awards in the world. We will tell about the best of them in this article.

Morgan Freeman

The standard among black actors is Morgan Freeman. He became famous thanks to his characteristic calm voice and the skill of the storyteller, which he repeatedly demonstrated in many paintings. He was repeatedly nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe. The actor has one statuette "Oscar" for Best Supporting Actor in Clint Eastwood's sports drama "Million Dollar Baby". In 1990, he won a Golden Globe for Best Actor in Bruce Beresford's comedy-drama Driving Miss Daisy.

Most viewers know him from Frank Darabont's drama The Shawshank Redemption, David Fincher's thriller Seven, Paul McGuigan's crime thriller Slevin's Lucky Number, and Rob Reiner's tragicomedy Tucked Under.

Freeman tried himself as a director. In 1993, he directed the drama "Bopha!". itpolitical detective, which takes place in one of the South African cities. The protagonist is a black police officer who is faced with a difficult choice. Riots begin in the city due to the unjustified aggressiveness of a white officer. The key character will have to decide which side to take: support his son, who is an ardent supporter of the fight against apartheid, or choose a job, in the importance and justice of which he believes?

Denzel Washington

Another black Hollywood actor is Denzel Washington. On the big screen, he made his debut in 1974 in Michael Winner's detective "Death Wish". The picture is dedicated to rampant crime in New York in the 70s.

Washington received his first Oscar nomination in 1988. In Richard Attenborough's biographical drama Freedom Cry, he played the role of Steve Biko. This is a real-life fighter for the rights of blacks. The action of the picture takes place in the 1970s in the Republic of South Africa. The film details the struggle against the ruling regime, which is pursuing an aggressive policy of racial segregation. At the same time, almost the entire tape was filmed in Zimbabwe.

He didn't get the prize that year. The statuette was awarded to Sean Connery for his role in Brian de Palma's crime drama The Untouchables. Washington received his first Oscar in 1990 for his portrayal of Private Trip in Edward Zwick's historical military drama Glory. In 2000, the black actor won the GoldenGlobe" and the Silver Bear of the Berlin Film Festival for the role of boxer Rubin Carter in Norman Jewison's sports drama "The Hurricane".

Samuel Leroy Jackson

Among black male actors, one of the leaders in terms of the number of film roles is Samuel Leroy Jackson. He has more than 120 films to his credit. He first appeared in films in 1972. It was a little-known tape "Together Forever". Universal recognition for the black actor came in 1991 after Spike Lee's drama Tropical Fever. Jackson became a superstar when he starred in Quentin Tarantino's black comedy Pulp Fiction. For this work, he received the BAFTA Award and the Independent Spirit Award.

Jackson has since collaborated regularly with Tarantino. Played in his films "Django Unchained", "Jackie Brown", "The Hateful Eight".

Laurence Fishburne

The list of black actors who have earned fame and recognition includes Laurence Fishburne. In the history of world cinema, he left his name by playing in the film adaptation of Shakespeare's drama "Othello" in 1995. Most viewers remember his name after filming in the Wachowski brothers' sci-fi action movie The Matrix. For his role in this cult tape, he received an MTV award in the nomination "Best Fight".

In 1994, Fishburne received his only Oscar nomination for his portrayal of the American bluesmusician Ike Turner in the film What Love Can Do. As a result, the award went to Tom Hanks for the legal drama Philadelphia. He also has many theater roles in his career.

Ving Rhames

Among the black actors in Hollywood (men), Ving Rhames plays a prominent role. He began his career with Broadway productions. In the mid-80s he came to television. His first notable work was the role of the father of the writer James Baldwin, which he performed in the autobiographical drama Go Speak from the Mountain. Rhames often starred in Vietnamese westerns. He played in the dramatic mystical thriller "Jacob's Ladder" by Adrian Lyne.

Glory to him, like to Jackson, came after "Pulp Fiction" by Quentin Tarantino. Perhaps Rhames' most notable starring role is as Luther Stickell in the Mission: Impossible action film series. In total, the actor has more than a hundred film roles. It is still active to this day. In 2017, he starred in Lawrence Sher's comedy Who's Our Dad, Dude? and the fantastic action movie by James Gunn "Guardians of the Galaxy".

Eddie Murphy

No selection of photos of black actors is complete without a mention of Eddie Murphy. He reached the peak of his popularity in the 80s. His first big screen success was Martin Brest's action comedy Beverly Hills Cop. Universal love brought him roles in the comedy John Landis "Swap Places", the comedy melodrama Tom Shadyak "CrazyProfessor", Betty Thomas comedy "Doctor Dolittle", Ron Underwood's fantasy action movie "The Adventures of Pluto Nash", Bill Condon's dramatic musical "Dream Girls", Rob Minkoff's family comedy fantasy "Haunted Mansion".

Perhaps the most famous black American comedian. In addition to successes, there were many failures in his career. The actor was repeatedly nominated for the Golden Raspberry Award. Even became its owner. For example, in 2008 he received an award for the worst male role in Brian Robinska's comedy melodrama Norbit's Tricks. And in 2010, he received the Golden Raspberry in the Worst Actor of the Decade nomination for a series of unsuccessful works.

Will Smith

Another successful black actor is Will Smith. He was twice nominated for an Oscar in his career. In 2002, Smith was nominated for the best actor award in Michael Mann's biographical sports drama Ali, dedicated to boxer Cassius Clay. But that year's victory went to Denzel Washington for Antoine Fuqua's dramatic thriller Training Day.

In 2007, Smith once again claimed an Oscar for his work in Gabriele Muccino's drama The Pursuit of Happyness. But even then, he didn't get the award. Forest Whitaker won for his lead role in Kevin MacDonald's historical drama The Last King of Scotland. Will Smith won national love after the release of Barry Sonnefeld's fantastic action comedy "Men in Black". And then the second part of this film. Since then, many have known him as agent James Darrell Edwards.