- A Fall from Grace
2020 Alice
- The Other Boys of Summer
2019 Narrator
- Last Flag Flying
2017 Mrs. Hightower
- Showing Roots
2016 Hattie
- The Trip to Bountiful
2014 Mrs. Watts
- The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia
2013 Mama Kay
- Alex Cross
2012 Nana Mama
- The Help
2011 Constantine Jefferson
- Why Did I Get Married Too?
2010 Ola
- Relative Stranger
2009 Pearl
- Idlewild
2006 Mother Hopkins
- Madea's Family Reunion
2006 Myrtle
- Fat Rose and Squeaky
2006 Celine
- Because of Winn-Dixie
2005 Gloria Dump
- Diary of a Mad Black Woman
2005 Myrtle
- The Rosa Parks Story
2002 Leona Edwards McCauley
- Jewel
2001 Cathedral
- A Lesson Before Dying
1999 Tante Lou
- Always Outnumbered
1998 Luvia
- Hoodlum
1997 Stephanie St. Clair
- Ms. Scrooge
1997 Ms. Ebenita Scrooge
- Blessed Assurance
1997 Vesta Lotte Battle
- Riot
1997 Maggie
- Bridge of Time
1997 Guardian
- The Road to Galveston
1996 Jordan Roosevelt
- Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All
1994 Castralia
- House of Secrets
1993 Evangeline
- Duplicates
1992 Dr. Randolph
- When No One Would Listen
1992 Sarah
- Fried Green Tomatoes
1991 Sipsey
- Heat Wave
1990 Ruthana Richardson
- The Kid Who Loved Christmas
1990 Etta Mercer
- The Women of Brewster Place
1989 Mrs. Browne
- Samaritan: The Mitch Snyder Story
1986 Muriel
- Acceptable Risks
1986 Janet Framm
- Intimate Encounters
1986 Dr. Claire Dalton
- Playing with Fire
1985 Carol Phillips
- Benny's Place
1982 Odessa
- Bustin' Loose
1981 Vivian Perry
- The Marva Collins Story
1981 Marva Collins
- The Concorde... Airport '79
1979 Elaine
- A Hero Ain't Nothin' But a Sandwich
1977 Sweets
- Wilma
1977 Blanche Rudolph
- The River Niger
1976 Mattie Williams
- The Blue Bird
1976 Tylette
- Just an Old Sweet Song
1976 Priscilla Simmons
- The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman
1974 Jane Pittman
- Sounder
1972 Rebecca Morgan
- Marriage: Year One
1971 Emma Teasley
- Neighbors
1971 Vicky Gunther
- The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter
1968 Portia Copeland
- The Comedians
1967 Marie Therese
- A Man Called Adam
1966 Claudia Ferguson
- A Morning For Jimmy
1960 Sister
- Odds Against Tomorrow
1959 Jazz Club Bartender (uncredited)
- The Last Angry Man
1959 Girl Left on Porch (uncredited)
- Carib Gold
1956 Dottie
