Alfre Woodard
Academy Award®-nominated and Emmy® Award-winning Alfre Woodard voices Mimi, Lunella’s grandmother, in Disney Branded Television’s “Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur,” based on Marvel’s hit comic books.
Woodard starred in the feature film “Clemency” and received a BAFTA Award nomination and a Spirit Award nomination in the Best Female Lead category. On the small screen, she stars opposite Jason Momoa in “See,” created by Steven Knight. Woodard also stars in the film “Fatherhood” alongside Kevin Hart. Upcoming projects include a role in the Joe and Anthony Russo directed film “The Gray Man” with Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans, as Dr. Cody in the upcoming adaptation of Stephen King’s “Salem’s Lot,” as well as reuniting with her “Juanita” co-star Blair Underwood in the psychological thriller “Viral.”
Additional recent film appearances include the blockbusters “Captain America: Civil War” and “Annabelle.” On the small screen, she most recently starred as the fierce Mariah Dillard in “Marvel’s Luke Cage” and as the title character in “Juanita,” which she also developed and produced.
Acclaimed dramatic performances include roles in Steve McQueen’s “12 Years a Slave,” John Sayles’ “Passion Fish,” Maya Angelou’s “Down in the Delta,” Peter Bratt’s “Follow Me Home,” Gina Prince-Bythewood’s “Love & Basketball,” Spike Lee’s “Crooklyn,” Lawrence Kasdan’s “Grand Canyon” and “Mumford,” Tyler Perry’s “The Family That Preys,” Billie Woodruff’s “Beauty Shop” with Queen Latifah, Richard Donner’s “Scrooged” opposite Bill Murray, “Mandela” and “Miss Evers’ Boys.”
Woodard has been nominated for 17 Emmy Awards (winning four), seven SAG Awards (winning three), three Golden Globe Awards (winning one), 23 NAACP Awards (winning nine) and two Independent Spirit Awards (winning one). She also received an Academy Award nomination in the Best Supporting Actress category for her performance in Martin Ritt’s “Cross Creek.”
She directed and produced “Nelson Mandela’s Favorite African Folktales,” which garnered a GRAMMY® Award nomination in the Best Spoken Word Album for Children category. It hosts a collaboration of talent both broad and diverse, including Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Helen Mirren, Alan Rickman and Samuel L. Jackson.
In addition to her acting career, Woodard is a longtime activist who has been involved in countless nonprofit organizations, including Artists For A New South Africa, a nonprofit she co-founded which works to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS and further the cause of democracy and human rights in South Africa. In 2009, former President Barack Obama appointed her to the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities. As part of her work on the Committee, Woodard adopted several high poverty and under-performing public schools around the country, including ReNew Cultural Arts Academy in New Orleans and Noel Community Arts School in Denver. She is an active advocate for the arts in education, largely through her work on the committee’s “Turnaround Arts” initiative, which was launched in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Education and the White House Domestic Policy Council to narrow the achievement gap and increase student engagement through the arts.
Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Woodard currently resides in Los Angeles.
