Black Reel Award for Outstanding Breakthrough Performance, Female

Black Reel Award for Outstanding Breakthrough Performance, Female
The 2023 recipient: Thuso Mbedu
Awarded for	Outstanding Breakthrough Performance, Female
Country	United States
Presented by	Black Reel Awards (BRAs)
First award	Black Reel Awards of 2014
Most recent winner	Ariana DeBose West Side Story (Black Reel Awards of 2022)
Website	blackreelawards.com

This article lists the winners and nominees for the Black Reel Award for Outstanding Breakthrough Performance, Female. Prior to 2014 the category was no gender specific, thus was called Outstanding Breakthrough Performance. Naomie Harris was the first woman to win the Outstanding Breakthrough Performance category. Sharon Warren was the first actress to win a Black Reel Awards in a Lead or Supporting performance and the Breakthrough performance in the same year.

Currently, Lupita Nyong'o is the first person (man or woman) to win the BRA "Triple Crown" acting award with wins in the Lead, Supporting and Breakthrough categories. Nyong'o took home the award for Outstanding Supporting Actress & Outstanding Breakthrough Performance, Male for 12 Years a Slave and won the award for Outstanding Actress for Us.

At age 9, Quvenzhane Wallis became the youngest actress to win this award for Beasts of the Southern Wild and at age 38, Tiffany Haddish became the oldest winner in this category for Girls Trip. At the 15th Annual Black Reel Awards both Mya Taylor and Kitana Kiki Rodriguez became the first transgender actresses nominated in this category for their performances in Tangerine.

Winners and nominees

Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold.

2010s

Year	Actress	Film	Ref
Outstanding Breakthrough Performance, Female
2014
	Lupita Nyong'o	12 Years a Slave (Outstanding Supporting Actress Winner)	[1]
	Melonie Diaz	Fruitvale Station (Outstanding Supporting Actress nominee)
	Danai Gurira	Mother of George (Outstanding Actress Winner)
	Lindiwe Matshikiza	Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
	Tashiana Washington	Gimme the Loot
2015
	Teyonah Parris	Dear White People (Outstanding Supporting Actress nominee)	[2]
	Jillian Estell	Black or White
	Patina Miller	The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1
	Amber Stevens	22 Jump Street
	Kuoth Wiel	The Good Lie
2016
	Kiersey Clemons	Dope	[3]
	Chanel Iman	Dope
	Kitana Kiki Rodriguez	Tangerine (Outstanding Actress nominee)
	Assa Sylla	Girlhood
	Mya Taylor	Tangerine (Outstanding Supporting Actress nominee)
2017
	Janelle Monae	Hidden Figures (Outstanding Supporting Actress nominee)	[4]
	Royalty Hightower	The Fits (Outstanding Actress nominee)
	Sasha Lane	American Honey (Outstanding Actress nominee)
	Leslie Jones	Ghostbusters
	Aja Naomi King	The Birth of a Nation
2018
	Tiffany Haddish	Girls Trip (Outstanding Supporting Actress Winner)	[5]
	Betty Gabriel	Get Out (Outstanding Supporting Actress nominee)
	Mary J. Blige	Mudbound (Outstanding Supporting Actress nominee)
	Natalie Paul	Crown Heights (Outstanding Actress Winner)
	Jessica Williams	The Incredible Jessica James (Outstanding Actress nominee)
2019
	Letitia Wright	Black Panther (Outstanding Supporting Actress nominee)	[6]
	Laura Harrier	BlacKkKlansman
	Zoe Renee	Jinn (Outstanding Actress nominee)
	KiKi Layne	If Beale Street Could Talk (Outstanding Actress Winner)
	Cynthia Erivo	Bad Times at the El Royale

2020s

Year	Actress	Film	Ref
2020
	Da’Vine Joy Randolph	Dolemite Is My Name (Outstanding Supporting Actress Winner)	[7]
	Shahadi Wright Joseph	Us (Outstanding Supporting Actress nominee)
	Jodie Turner-Smith	Queen & Slim (Outstanding Actress nominee)
	Taylor Russell	Waves (Outstanding Supporting Actress nominee)
	Mame Bineta Sane	Atlantics
2021
	Andra Day	The United States vs. Billie Holiday (Outstanding Actress nominee)	[8]
	Radha Blank	The Forty-Year-Old Version
	Alexis Chikaeze	Miss Juneteenth (Outstanding Supporting Actress nominee)
	Dominique Fishback	Judas and the Black Messiah (Outstanding Supporting Actress Winner)
	Zendaya	Malcolm & Marie (Outstanding Actress nominee)
2022
	Ariana DeBose	West Side Story (Outstanding Supporting Actress nominee)
	Danielle Deadwyler	The Harder They Fall		[9]
	Taylour Paige	Zola (Outstanding Actress nominee)
	Saniyya Sidney	King Richard
Demi Singleton	King Richard
2023
	Thuso Mbedu	The Woman King
	Sheila Atim	The Woman King
	Charmaine Bingwa	Emancipation
	Anna Diop	Nanny
	Dominique Thorne	Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Multiple nominations from the same film

• Kiersey Clemons (winner) and Chanel Iman in Dope (2016)
• Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor in Tangerine (2016)
• Saniyya Sidney and Demi Singleton in King Richard (2022)
• Thuso Mbedu (winner) and Sheila Atim in The Woman King(2023)

Age superlatives

Record	Actress	Film	Age (in years)
Oldest winner	Tiffany Haddish	Girls Trip	38
Oldest nominee	Kim Wayans	Pariah	50
Youngest winner	Quvenzhane Wallis	Beasts of the Southern Wild	9
Youngest nominee	Quvenzhane Wallis	Beasts of the Southern Wild	9

References

1. "2014 Black Reel Awards - Nominees". Black Reel Awards. December 11, 2014. Retrieved August 1, 2016.
2. 2015 Black Reel Awards
3. 2016 Black Reel Awards
4. "Black Reel Awards (2017)". IMDb .
5. "Black Reel Awards (2018)". IMDb .
6. "Black Reel Awards (2019)". IMDb .
7. "Black Reel Awards (2020)". IMDb .
8. "A Special "Night in Miami!" – the Black Reel Awards". Archived from the original on February 22, 2021. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
9. "'The Harder They Fall' Sets Record with 20 Nominations from the Black Reel Awards". Black Girl Nerds. BGN Staff. Retrieved January 2, 2022.