The current state of The White House and the person in charge, certainly do not warrant any Hollywood depictions in television and film. However, thanks to the world of acting we have multiple examples of some of our favorite Black actresses showing you how the country would be run with a much-needed dose of #BlackGirlMagic. Viola Davis – President, perhaps?
In addition to the many things that we do well, saving the world is one of them— which is why Black actresses playing the President of the United States makes so much sense. While we haven’t had a Black woman POTUS yet, some of our favorite actresses got the job done, fictionally of course.
Here are five Black actresses who have played the President of the United States.
Viola Davis: President In G:20
Academy Award winner Viola Davis stars as President Danielle Sutton in the action thriller, G20, which will be available to stream exclusively on Amazon Prime Video on April 10.
In the film, President Sutton has to defend her family and the world when the G20 summit in Cape Town, South Africa is taken hostage by terrorists. “I think that we can be the hero, too,” Davis said in an interview with Extra. “I think that we can answer that call to adventure, and I think that when we feel that we’re capable, then people will feel that we’re capable. We put that narrative out in the world. We lead the charge in defining who we are.”
Watch her pull up in a presidential limo, below:
Angela Bassett
In an upgrade from her previous role as CIA director Erika Sloane in Mission Impossible: Fallout, Angela Bassett’s character returns in the upcoming film Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning, but this time she’s now the President of the United States. The highly anticipated eighth installment in the long-running franchise hits theaters on May 23.
“It was just a tremendous opportunity. To work with Tom Cruise, to be a part of this major franchise that has been going strong for 22 years,” she said in a previous interview. “And in Erica, to portray one of those women. A woman who looks like me, who has ascended to this position of power and influence… And it’s not bad telling Superman what to do.”
Bassett also has the distinction of being the only Black woman to play POTUS twice! In the 2025 Netflix series, Zero Day, she plays incumbent President Evelyn Mitchell alongside legendary actor Robert DeNiro.
Alfre Woodard
Although the series only lasted one short-lived season, Alfre Woodard still brought her considerable talent to the role of President Constance Payton on the former NBC series, State of Affairs, which premiered in November 2014.
“Constance came up as a military brat and she served [in the Air Force] in the first Gulf War. And she wasn’t in a skirt at a desk,” Woodard said at the time in an interview with the New York Post. “She was going in to pull people out who’d been injured behind the front. She believes in the order of the military.”
Sadly, the show did not continue on, but Woodard definitely gave her all in the role as the most powerful Black woman in the world.
Issa Rae
Issa Rae made her presidential debut in the blockbuster Hollywood film Barbie where she portrayed President Barbie in the record-breaking 2023 film.
“People will call me President Barbie when I’m just out on the street,” Rae said while on The View of her character’s impact on young fans.. “I didn’t know how much that would mean to me. I’m like, ‘Oh, salute, yes!’”
Rae also noted the issue of white Barbies and Black Barbies growing up in a 2023 interview with People. “I felt like there was a lot of pressure, image-wise, playing with white Barbie dolls and my parents making sure I had Black Barbie dolls so I felt represented,” she said. “Barbies made me aware of race at a young age. There was so much held on Barbie’s shoulders.”
Vivica Fox
Now you may have missed this independent sci-fi film when it was released back in 2019 — but the only thing you really need to know about it is that Vivica Fox made history in it. In the role of President Ellen Henricksen, Fox officially became the first Black woman ever to portray the President of the United States in a movie.
“When my producers brought up the idea of Vivica in the role, it was a lightning bolt,” the film’s director Brandon Slagle said of casting Fox in the historic role, per The Hollywood Reporter. “It was a fantastic idea. Someone who could light up a room but also has a commanding presence. Our President is positive and proactive, not the grim figure as is usually portrayed in these types of movies.”
5 Black Actresses Who’ve Played The POTUS On Screen was originally published on hellobeautiful.com
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