| Movie | 2001 | K-PAX | Claudia Villars | |
| Movie | 1996 | Star Trek: First Contact | Lily Sloane | |
| Movie | 1996 | Primal Fear | Shoat | |
| Movie | 2000 | Dinosaur | Plio (voice) | |
| Movie | 1999 | Mumford | Lily | |
| Movie | 2001 | Disney's American Legends | | |
| Movie | 1995 | How to Make an American Quilt | Marianna | |
| Movie | 2024 | Summer Camp | Mary | |
| Movie | 2003 | The Core | Stickley | |
| Movie | 1994 | Crooklyn | Carolyn Carmichael | |
| Movie | 2006 | Take the Lead | Augustine James | |
| Movie | 2003 | A Wrinkle in Time | Mrs. Whatsit | |
| Movie | 1991 | Grand Canyon | Jane | |
| Movie | 2003 | Radio | Principal Daniels | |
| Movie | 2005 | Beauty Shop | Ms. Josephine | |
| Movie | 1992 | Passion Fish | Chantelle | |
| Movie | 1997 | Follow Me Home | Evey | |
| Movie | 2002 | The Wild Thornberrys Movie | Akela (Cheetah Mother) (voice) | |
| Movie | 2000 | Love & Basketball | Camille Wright | |
| Movie | 2008 | Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys | Alice Pratt | |
| Movie | 2023 | Weathering | Mum | |
| Movie | 1992 | The Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag | Ann | |
| Movie | 1984 | Sweet Revenge | Vicki Teague | |
| Movie | 2008 | Reach for Me | Evelyn | |
| Movie | 1980 | HealtH | Sally Benbow | |
| Movie | 1978 | Remember My Name | Rita | |
| Movie | 2013 | 12 Years a Slave | Mistress Shaw | |
| Movie | 1993 | Bopha! | Rosie Mangena | |
| Movie | 2000 | Holiday Heart | Wanda Dean | |
| Movie | 1998 | Down in the Delta | Loretta Sinclair | |
| Movie | 1985 | Words by Heart | Claudie Sills | |
| Movie | 1983 | Cross Creek | Geechee | |
| Movie | 1992 | Rich in Love | Rhody Poole | |
| Movie | 1997 | Miss Evers' Boys | Eunice Evers, R.N. | |
| Movie | 2012 | Steel Magnolias | Ouiser | |
| Movie | 1997 | The Member of the Wedding | Berenice Sadie Brown | |
| Movie | 1985 | Go Tell It on the Mountain | Esther | |
| Movie | 2001 | The Wild Thornberrys: The Origin of Donnie | Medicine Woman (voice) | |
| Movie | 2023 | Space Oddity | Dr. Olsen | |
| Movie | 1986 | Unnatural Causes | Maude DeVictor | |
| Movie | 1989 | A Mother's Courage: The Mary Thomas Story | Mary Thomas | |
| Movie | 1987 | Mandela | Winnie Mandela | |
| Movie | 1999 | Funny Valentines | Joyce May | |
| Movie | 1989 | Miss Firecracker | Popeye Jackson | |
| Movie | 2000 | Lost Souls | Dr. Allen | |
| Movie | 1986 | Extremities | Patricia | |
| Movie | 2014 | Annabelle | Evelyn | |
| Movie | 2015 | Mary Lou Williams: The Lady Who Swings the Band | Mary Lou Williams (voice) | |
| Movie | 1994 | Blue Chips | Lavada McRae | |
| Movie | 2013 | The Door | E | |
| Movie | 2015 | Mississippi Grind | Sam | |
| Movie | 2004 | The Forgotten | Det. Anne Pope | |
| Movie | 2014 | Nelson Mandela Redrawn | Self | |
| Movie | 2000 | What's Cooking? | Audrey Williams | |
| Movie | 2016 | So B. It | Bernadette | |
| Movie | 1982 | The Ambush Murders | Karisha Ellsworth | |
| Movie | 2003 | The Singing Detective | Chief of Staff | |
| Movie | 2015 | Knucklehead | Sheila | |
| Movie | 2024 | The Book of Clarence | Mother Mary | |
| Movie | 2015 | A Path Appears | Self | |
| Movie | 2008 | Medal of Honor | Narrator | |
| Movie | 2000 | John Henry | Polly / Narrator (voice) | |
| Movie | 1997 | Cadillac Desert: Water and the Transformation of Nature | Narrator (voice) | |
| Movie | 1979 | Freedom Road | Katie | |
| Movie | 2007 | Pictures of Hollis Woods | Edna Reilly | |
| Movie | 1988 | Scrooged | Grace Cooley | |
| Movie | 2016 | Captain America: Civil War | Miriam | |
| Movie | 1982 | For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf | Woman who lost her stuff | |
| Movie | 2017 | Burning Sands | Professor Hughes | |
| Movie | 1996 | A Step Toward Tomorrow | Dr. Sadlin | |
| Movie | 2006 | The Water Is Wide | Mrs. Brown | |
| Movie | 1995 | The Piano Lesson | Berniece Charles | |
| Movie | 2008 | American Violet | Alma Roberts | |
| Movie | 2016 | Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise | Self | |
| Movie | 1978 | The Trial of the Moke | Lucy Smith | |
| Movie | 2019 | The Lion King | Sarabi (voice) | |
| Movie | 2003 | Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property | Narrator | |
| Movie | 1999 | The Wishing Tree | Clara | |
| Movie | 1985 | Puss in Boots | Princess Lovinia | |
| Movie | 2006 | King Leopold's Ghost | Ilanga (voice) | |
| Movie | 1984 | The Killing Floor | Mattie | |
| Movie | 2003 | Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives | | |
| Movie | 2010 | Black Panther | Dondi Reece | |
| Movie | 2008 | Henry Box Brown | | |
| Movie | 2019 | Saint Judy | Judge Benton | |
| Movie | 2019 | Clemency | Warden Bernadine Williams | |
| Movie | 1996 | Special Report: Journey to Mars | Tamara O'Neil | |
| Movie | 2019 | Juanita | Juanita | |
| Movie | 2021 | Fatherhood | Marian | |
| Movie | 2019 | The Lion King: Can You Feel The Love Tonight with Robin Roberts | | |
| Movie | 1993 | Heart and Souls | Penny Washington | |
| Movie | 2014 | And the Oscar Goes To... | Self (archive footage) | |
| Movie | 2000 | The Tulsa Lynching of 1921: A Hidden Story | Mary Parrish (voice) | |
| Movie | 2000 | Eleanor Roosevelt | Narrator (voice) | |
| Movie | 1994 | Malcolm X: Make It Plain | Narrator | |
| Movie | 1994 | Aliens for Breakfast | Mrs. Marks | |
| Movie | 2020 | The Making of Clemency | Herself | |
| Movie | 2000 | Half Past Autumn: The Life and Works of Gordon Parks | Narrator | |
| Movie | 1999 | The Underground Railroad | | |
| Movie | 1988 | The Child Saver | Andrea Crawford | |
| Movie | 2019 | No Small Matter | Narrator (voice) | |
| Movie | 2007 | Nefertiti and the Lost Dynasty | Self - Narrator | |
| Movie | 1990 | Blue Bayou | Jessica Filley | |
| Movie | 2002 | Searching for Debra Winger | Self | |
| Movie | 2022 | The Gray Man | Margaret Cahill | |
| Movie | 2006 | Something New | Joyce McQueen | |
| Movie | 1984 | Black Hollywood | Self | |
| Movie | 1982 | Precious Blood | Narrator | |
| Movie | 1997 | The Brave Little Toaster to the Rescue | Maisie (voice) | |
| Movie | 1986 | L.A. Law: Pilot | Adrianne Moore | |
| Movie | 2021 | Miss Alma Thomas: A Life in Color | Alma Thomas (voice) | |
| Movie | 2021 | Dreamland: The Burning of Black Wall Street | Mary Parrish (voice) | |
| Movie | N/A | Hate to See You Go | | |
| Movie | 2024 | Salem's Lot | Dr. Cody | |
| Movie | N/A | Playing for Your Heart: The Making of “Love & Basketball” | Herself | |
| Movie | 2025 | The Inquisitor | Self | |
| TV Show | 2004 | Desperate Housewives | Betty Applewhite | 25 |
| TV Show | 1986 | L.A. Law | Adrianne Moore | 1 |
| TV Show | 2000 | Static Shock | Jean Hawkins (voice) | 1 |
| TV Show | 2006 | Class of 3000 | | 1 |
| TV Show | 1981 | Hill Street Blues | | 3 |
| TV Show | 1993 | Frasier | Edna (voice) | 1 |
| TV Show | 1997 | The Practice | Denise Freeman | 2 |
| TV Show | 2008 | My Own Worst Enemy | Mavis Heller | 9 |
| TV Show | 1982 | Tucker's Witch | Marcia Fulbright | 12 |
| TV Show | 1993 | Homicide: Life on the Street | | 1 |
| TV Show | 1951 | Hallmark Hall of Fame | Mrs. Brown | 1 |
| TV Show | 1978 | The White Shadow | Sandra Wilcox | 1 |
| TV Show | 2008 | True Blood | Ruby Jean Reynolds | 5 |
| TV Show | 1996 | Gulliver's Travels | Queen of Brobdingnag | 2 |
| TV Show | 1980 | Palmerstown, U.S.A. | | 1 |
| TV Show | 2009 | Three Rivers | Dr. Sophia Jordan | 13 |
| TV Show | 2010 | Black Panther | Dondi Reece (voice) | 6 |
| TV Show | 1953 | The Oscars | Self | 1 |
| TV Show | 1977 | What Really Happened to the Class of '65? | | 1 |
| TV Show | 1985 | Sara | Rozalyn Dupree | 13 |
| TV Show | 2010 | Memphis Beat | Lieutenant Tanya Rice | 20 |
| TV Show | 1998 | The Wild Thornberrys | Medicine Woman (voice) | 2 |
| TV Show | 2011 | Women, War & Peace | Narrator (voice) | 1 |
| TV Show | 2014 | State of Affairs | President Constance Payton | 13 |
| TV Show | 2014 | The Last Ship | Amy Granderson | 3 |
| TV Show | 1996 | The Daily Show | Self | 1 |
| TV Show | 1982 | Faerie Tale Theatre | Self - Guest | 1 |
| TV Show | 2016 | Marvel's Luke Cage | Mariah Dillard | 26 |
| TV Show | 2017 | A Series of Unfortunate Events | Aunt Josephine | 3 |
| TV Show | 1983 | Reading Rainbow | Herself - Narrator (voice) | 1 |
| TV Show | 2010 | Who Do You Think You Are? | Self | 1 |
| TV Show | 1988 | American Experience | Narrator (voice) | 2 |
| TV Show | 1982 | Faerie Tale Theatre | Princess Lovinia | 1 |
| TV Show | 2015 | Empire | Renee | 1 |
| TV Show | 2024 | Monsieur Spade | Virginia Dell | 1 |
| TV Show | 1995 | Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child | Winsome (voice) | 1 |
| TV Show | 2009 | Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen | Self - Guest | 2 |
| TV Show | 2025 | The Last Frontier | Jacqueline Bradford | 10 |
| TV Show | 2006 | Rachael Ray | Self | 1 |
| TV Show | 2023 | Marvel's Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur | Mimi (voice) | 40 |
| TV Show | 2005 | Grey's Anatomy | Justine Campbell | 1 |
| TV Show | 2019 | See | Paris | 16 |
| TV Show | 1981 | The Sophisticated Gents | Evelyn Evers | 3 |
| TV Show | 1992 | HBO First Look | Self | 1 |
| TV Show | N/A | The Boroughs | Judy | 1 |
| TV Show | 2006 | The Megan Mullally Show | Self - Guest | 1 |
| TV Show | 2020 | Star Trek: Lower Decks | Lilly Sloane (voice) | 1 |
| TV Show | 2014 | Variety Studio: Actors on Actors | Self | 1 |
| TV Show | 2007 | Private Practice | Dee Bennett | 1 |
| TV Show | 2025 | Number One on the Call Sheet | Self | 1 |
| TV Show | 2020 | The Sunday Show with Jonathan Capehart | Self | 1 |
| TV Show | 1984 | WonderWorks | Claudie Sills | 2 |
