This article lists the winners and nominees for the

Black Reel Award The Black Reel Awards, or BRAs, is an annual American awards ceremony hosted by the Foundation for the Augmentation of African-Americans in Film (FAAAF) to recognize excellence of African Americans, as well as the cinematic achievements of the Afr ...

for Outstanding Breakthrough Performance, Female. Prior to 2014 the category was no gender specific, thus was called Outstanding Breakthrough Performance.

Naomie Harris Naomie Melanie Harris (born 6 September 1976) is a British actress. She started her career when she was a child, appearing in the television series ''Simon and the Witch'' in 1987. She portrayed Selena in the zombie film ''28 Days Later'' (2002 ...

was the first woman to win the Outstanding Breakthrough Performance category.

Sharon Warren Sharon Warren is an American actress. She played Ray Charles' mother, Aretha Robinson, in the 2004 film ''Ray''. Biography Warren was born in Opelika, Alabama. She is the daughter of David, a sheriff for Macon, Georgia, and Pebblin Warren, a De ...

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 Lupita Amondi Nyong'o (, ; ; born 1 March 1983) is a Kenyan-Mexican actress. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Lupita Nyong'o, several accolades, including an Academy Awards, Academy Award, and nominations for ...

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 ''Twelve Years a Slave'' is an 1853 memoir and slave narrative by American Solomon Northup as told to and written by David Wilson. Northup, a black man who was born free in New York state, details himself being tricked to go to Washington, D.C., ...

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 ''Beasts of the Southern Wild'' is a 2012 American fantasy-drama film directed, co-written, and co-scored by Benh Zeitlin. It was adapted by Zeitlin and Lucy Alibar from Alibar's one-act play ''Juicy and Delicious''. The film stars Quvenzhané W ...

and at age 38,

Tiffany Haddish Tiffany Sara Cornilia Haddish (born December 3, 1979) is an American stand-up comedian and actress. After guest-starring on several television series and lead role on a cable drama, Haddish gained prominence for her role as Nekeisha Williams on ...

became the oldest winner in this category for

Girls Trip ''Girls Trip'' is a 2017 American comedy film starring Regina Hall, Queen Latifah, Tiffany Haddish, and Jada Pinkett Smith. The film is directed by Malcolm D. Lee and written by Kenya Barris and Tracy Oliver, from a story by the pair and Erica R ...

. At the 15th Annual Black Reel Awards both

Mya Taylor Mya Taylor (born March 28, 1991) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her role as Alexandra in the 2015 film ''Tangerine'' for which she won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female. Early life Mya Taylor was b ...

and Kitana Kiki Rodriguez became the first transgender actresses nominated in this category for their performances in

Tangerine The tangerine is a type of citrus fruit that is orange in color. Its scientific name varies. It has been treated as a separate species under the name ''Citrus tangerina'' or ''Citrus'' × ''tangerina'', or treated as a variety of ''Citrus retic ...

Winners and nominees

Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold.

2000s

2010s

2020s

Multiple nominations from the same film

Kiersey Clemons Kiersey Nicole Clemons (born December 17, 1993) is an American actress. She is known for her role in the 2015 comedy-drama film '' Dope'', playing Cassandra "Diggy" Andrews. Subsequently, she went on to co-star in '' Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising ...

(winner) and

Chanel Iman Chanel Iman Robinson (formerly Shepard) (born December 1, 1990) is an American model best known for her work as a Victoria's Secret Angel. ''Vogue Paris'' declared her as one of the top 30 models of the 2000s. Early life Iman was born in Atla ...

in '' Dope'' (2016) * Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and

in ''

'' (2016) * Saniyya Sidney and

Demi Singleton Demi Patricia Singleton (born 27 February 2007) is an American actress, singer, and dancer. She is best known for her role in crime TV series '' Godfather of Harlem'' and as the young Serena Williams in the biographical film '' King Richard.'' ...

in '' King Richard'' (2022)

Age superlatives

References

{{Black Reel Awards Black Reel Awards