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Alfre Woodard. Photo by Johnson C. Smith University.

Top 10 Facts About Alfre Woodard

Alfre Woodard, one of Hollywood’s most influential African-American actresses, has continued to soar and exceed expectations. She is well-known for her outstanding film roles, which she effortlessly transitions into with all sincerity.

Woodard can be considered a lucky charm for producers and directors because, on average, any film in which she appears is a box office success. Her films include 12 Years a Slave, The Family That Preys, Grand Canyon, and many others.

Alfre may have played various characters on screen, but these roles have little to do with her real-life endeavours. There is a lot to learn about the well-known Holywood personality who continues to set the bar for her peers as well as aspiring actors and actresses.

1. She started out in theatre acting 

Woodard’s acting career began in the theatre. She began participating in theatre productions when she was in her teens.

After high school, the actress went on to study Fine Arts and Theatre at Boston University, where she graduated in 1974. Even after earning a degree, she continued to work in theatre while looking for film roles. In 1976, the actress appeared in the stage production For Coloured Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enough.

2. Alfre made her film debut in 1978

Her success in the theatre inspired her to relocate to California and look for work. It was difficult for black actors to get roles at the time, but her confidence and determination paid off.

Alfre Woodard made her film debut in Alan Rudolph’s 1978 film “Remember My Name.” During the same year, she co-starred in the television film ‘The Trial of the Moke’ with Samuel L. Jackson.

3. Her first Oscar nomination came in 1983

Alfre Woodard. Photo by Jeffvespa.

Woodard co-starred in the biopic drama Cross Creek with Mary Steenburgen. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the film.

Cross Creek is a 1983 American drama film directed by Martin Ritt that stars Mary Steenburgen, Rip Torn, Peter Coyote, Alfre Woodard, and Dana Hill and is based on author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings’ 1943 memoir “Cross Creek.”

4. Her best known role is that of Winnie Mandela 

In the HBO film “Mandela,” she played political activist Winnie Mandela (Nelson Mandela’s wife). She practised her Winnie Mandela impersonation by watching tapes of her speeches and news clips. She received a “CableACE Award” and a “NAACP Image Award” in the category of Outstanding Lead Actress for this performance.

Her role as a nurse in the film “Passion Fish,” for which she received her first Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, was also critically acclaimed. For this, she received the “Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female.”

5. She featured in the biggest film of 2013

Alfre Woodard at the premiere of 12 Years a Slave, 2013 Toronto Film Festival. Photo by GabboT.

Alfre Woodard’s character in “12 Years a Slave” is memorable despite being only in one scene.

Mistress Harriet Shaw, a formerly enslaved woman who rises through the Southern caste system to marry a wealthy plantation owner, is played by the veteran actress.

Mistress Shaw’s plantation is located next to the plantation where freeborn Solomon Northrup (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is sold into slavery.

6. Woodard has featured in widely popular TV shows

Alfre Woodard at the 2013 New York Film Festival. Photo by aphrodite-in-NYC.

She joined the cast of Desperate Housewives in 2005. Woodard has also appeared on Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, The Practice, and other shows. The actress, best known for her performance in The Family That Preys (2008), has since appeared in a slew of other blockbusters.

7. She is an Emmy-award winner

She’s a four-time Emmy winner, having won for her work on The Practice, Hill Street Blues, and L.A. Law, as well as the television film Miss Evers’ Boys.

Woodard recently received her 17th Emmy nomination for her role as Ruby Jean Reynolds, Lafayette Reynolds’ mother, on HBO’s True Blood.

Her other recent credits include CBS’s Three Rivers and TNT’s Memphis Beat.

At the 2013 Emmy Awards, Alfre Woodard made history by receiving 17 nominations for 16 different roles.

8. She is part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe 

In 2016, she played Miriam Sharpe, the mother of an American citizen killed in the battle of Sokovia, in Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War. Later that year, she portrayed “Black” Mariah Dillard Stokes in Marvel’s Luke Cage, a Netflix series, marking her second appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This role was crucial for Woodard’s character of Luke Cage in Season 2 of the show, ultimately leaving the audience questioning Cage’s decisions at the end.

Unfortunately, fans were never able to see more of Cage after the show’s cancellation and Marvel’s general uprooting of their Netflix shows. Nonetheless, he may return in the MCU’s future. In any case, Woodard has held extreme importance in the MCU for only two years, with her smallest role arguably having the most overall impact.

9. Her religious beliefs are unique 

Alfre Woodard at the premiere of 12 Years a Slave, 2013 Toronto Film Festival. Photo by GabboT.

Alfre Woodard deliberated on how to practice her faith. She is a Christian Scientist who believes in trusting her intuition. Despite attending a Catholic school, she was open to new ideas. She has a Bahai brother and a Lutheran friend, as well as a Church of Christ mother. The actress, who has been surrounded by various beliefs her entire life, eventually decided to practice her godmother’s faith – Christian Science – which she claims she understands the best.

10. She believes in humanitarian causes

Alfre Woodard at Obama Rally during the Democratic National Convention. Photo by Michelle Uthoff-Campbell.

Alfre Woodard is a political activist. Artists for a New South Africa is one of her organizations that she founded to advance democracy and equality. She was inspired to help the country after starring as former South African First Lady Winnie Mandela in the 1987 television film Mandela. She is also working to end the African AIDS epidemic.