Black Reel Award for Outstanding Lead Performance

Black Reel Award for Outstanding Performance
The 2025 recipient: Marianne Jean-Baptiste
Awarded for	Outstanding Performance
Country	United States
Presented by	Black Reel Awards (BRAs)
First award	2024
Most recent winner	Marianne Jean-Baptiste Hard Truths
Website	blackreelawards.com

This article lists the winners and nominees for the Black Reel Award for Outstanding Lead Performance. The award recognizes an actor or actress who delivers an outstanding performance in a leading role within the given eligible period. ^[1]

The award was first presented at the 24th Annual Black Reel Awards as a result of a merger between the Outstanding Actor and Outstanding Actress awards into a single gender-neutral award, with a total of ten nominees being selected. Jeffrey Wright is the inaugural winner for his performance in American Fiction , for which he was also nominated at the Academy Awards.

Winners and nominees

2020s

Year	Actor	Role(s)	Film
2024 [2]
	Jeffrey Wright	Thelonious "Monk" Ellison	American Fiction
	Fantasia Barrino	Celie Harris-Johnson	The Color Purple
	John Boyega	Fontaine / Tyrone	They Cloned Tyrone
	Colman Domingo	Bayard Rustin	Rustin
	Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor	Isabel Wilkerson	Origin
	Jamie Foxx	Willie E. Gary	The Burial
	Kelvin Harrison Jr.	Chevalier de Saint-Georges	Chevalier
	Michael B. Jordan	Adonis Creed	Creed III
	Teyana Taylor	Inez de la Paz	A Thousand and One
	Sophie Wilde	Mia	Talk to Me
2025 [3]
	Marianne Jean-Baptiste	Pansy Deacon	Hard Truths
	Naomi Ackie	Frida	Blink Twice
	Ryan Destiny	Claressa Shields	The Fire Inside
	Colman Domingo	John "Divine G" Whitfield	Sing Sing
	Cynthia Erivo	Elphaba Thropp	Wicked
	André Holland	Tarrell	Exhibiting Forgiveness
	Regina King	Shirley Chisholm	Shirley
	John David Washington	Boy Willie	The Piano Lesson
	Kerry Washington	Charity Adams	The Six Triple Eight
	Zendaya	Tashi Duncan	Challengers
2026 [4]
	Danielle Deadwyler	Hailey Freeman	40 Acres
	Cynthia Erivo	Elphaba Thropp	Wicked: For Good
	André Holland	Roger	Love, Brooklyn
	Chase Infiniti	Willa Ferguson	One Battle After Another
	Dwayne Johnson	Mark Kerr	The Smashing Machine
	Michael B. Jordan	Elijah "Smoke" Moore / Elias "Stack" Moore	Sinners
	Jonathan Majors	Killian Maddox	Magazine Dreams
	Keke Palmer	Dreux	One of Them Days
	Tessa Thompson	Hedda Gabler	Hedda
	Denzel Washington	David King	Highest 2 Lowest

Multiple nominations

2 nominations

• Colman Domingo
• Cynthia Erivo

Age superlatives

Record	Actor	Film	Age (in years)
Oldest winner	Jeffrey Wright	American Fiction	58
Oldest nominee	Denzel Washington	Highest 2 Lowest	70
Youngest winner	Marianne Jean-Baptiste	Hard Truths	57
Youngest nominee	Chase Infiniti	One Battle After Another	25

References

1. Siler, Brenda C. (January 23, 2024). "'The Color Purple' at the Top in 2024 Black Reel Awards". The Washington Informer . Retrieved March 12, 2024.
2. Complex, Valerie (February 6, 2023). "'The Woman King' Wins Big at the 23rd Annual Black Reel Awards". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved February 6, 2023.
3. "25th Annual Black Reel Awards Nominees". Black Reel Awards. December 19, 2024. Retrieved December 20, 2024.
4. "26th Annual Black Reel Awards Nominees". Black Reel Awards. December 18, 2025. Retrieved December 18, 2025.