| "The Oprah Winfrey Show" | Herself |
| Pictures of Hollis Woods | Edna Reilly |
| Nefertiti and the Lost Dynasty | Herself - Host |
| "Wild On..." | Herself - Actress |
| 20 on 20 | Herself |
| Reach for Me | Evelyn |
| The Family That Preys | |
| American Inquisition | Alma Roberts |
| "Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child" | Winoome Bear (voice) |
| Remember My Name | Rita |
| Freedom Road | Katie |
| HealtH | Sally Benbow |
| "Hill Street Blues" | Doris Robson (3 episodes, 1983) |
| The Sophisticated Gents | Evelyn Evers |
| "St. Elsewhere" | Dr. Roxanne Turner |
| "Tucker's Witch" | Marcia Fulbright (unknown episodes) |
| The Ambush Murders | Kariha Ellsworth |
| Precious Blood | |
| Cross Creek | Geechee |
| Go Tell It on the Mountain | Esther |
| The Killing Floor | Mattie |
| Sweet Revenge | Vicki Teague |
| "Sara" | Rozalyn Dupree (unknown episodes) |
| Extremities | Patricia |
| Unnatural Causes | Maude DeVictor |
| Mandela | Winnie Mandela |
| "The American Experience" | Narrator (2 episodes, 1994-2000) |
| The Child Saver | Andrea Crawford |
| Scrooged | Grace Cooley |
| Miss Firecracker | Popeye Jackson |
| A Mother's Courage: The Mary Thomas Story | Mary Thomas |
| Blue Bayou | Jessica Filley |
| Grand Canyon | Jane |
| The Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag | Attorney Ann Orkin |
| Passion Fish | Chantelle |
| Rich in Love | Rhody Poole |
| Bopha! | Rosie Mangena |
| Heart and Souls | Penny Washington |
| "A Century of Women" | (voice) |
| Aliens for Breakfast | |
| Blue Chips | Lavada McRae |
| Crooklyn | Carolyn Carmichael |
| Race to Freedom: The Underground Railroad | Harriet Tubman |
| "Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child" | Winoome Bear (1 episode, 1997) |
| How to Make an American Quilt | Marianna |
| The Piano Lesson | Berniece Charles |
| Secrets | |
| Statistically Speaking | |
| The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True | Host |
| Gulliver's Travels | Queen of Brobdingnag |
| Special Report: Journey to Mars | Tamara O'Neil |
| Primal Fear | Judge Miriam Shoat |
| Star Trek: First Contact | Lily Sloane |
| A Step Toward Tomorrow | Dr. Sandlin |
| "Cadillac Desert" | Narrator |
| "The Practice" | Denise Freeman (2 episodes, 2003) |
| Follow Me Home | Evey |
| The Member of the Wedding | Berenice Sadie Brown |
| The Member of the Wedding | Berenice Sadie Brown |
| Miss Evers' Boys | Eunice Evers, R.N. |
| Dinosaur | Plio |
| Countdown to Freedom: 10 Days That Changed South Africa | Narrator (voice) |
| Mumford | Lily |
| Down in the Delta | Loretta Sinclair |
| Precious Blood | |
| Lost Souls | Dr. Allen (uncredited) |
| The Brave Little Toaster to the Rescue | Maisie (voice) |
| Funny Valentines | Joyce May |
| Words by Heart | Claudie |
| What's Cooking? | Audrey Williams |
| Love & Basketball | Camille Wright |
| Pretty Hattie's Baby | |
| For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf | |
| The Wishing Tree | Clara |
| The Trial of the Moke | |
| John Henry | Polly / Narrator (voice) |
| Frederick Douglass: When the Lion Wrote History | Narrator |
| Holiday Heart | Wanda |
| Baby of the Family | Rachel |
| Half Past Autumn: The Life and Works of Gordon Parks | Narrator |
| The 65th Annual Academy Awards | Herself - Co-Presenter: Best Sound |
| "People's Century" | Narrator (US version) (unknown episodes) |
| K-PAX | Dr. Claudia Villars |
| The Underground Railroad | Host |
| The Kennedy Center Presents: Speak Truth to Power | Various |
| The Wild Thornberrys Movie | Akela (Cheetah Mother) (voice) |
| The Wild Thornberrys Movie | Akela (Cheetah Mother) (voice) |
| A Wrinkle in Time | Mrs. Whatsit |
| A Wrinkle in Time | Mrs. Whatsit |
| "Celebrity Profile" | Herself |
| "Celebrity Profile" | Herself |
| The Core | Dr. Talma Stickley |
| American Exile | Narrator |
| The Singing Detective | Chief of Staff |
| Radio | Principal Daniels |
| Searching for Debra Winger | Herself |
| "HBO First Look" | Herself (2 episodes, 2006) |
| Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives | Reader |
| Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property | Narrator |
| The Forgotten | Det. Anne Pope |
| 20th NAACP Image Awards | Herself - Presenter |
| The 55th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards | Herself - Co-presenter |
| Beauty Shop | Ms. Josephine |
| All Our Sons: Fallen Heroes of 9/11 | Narrator |
| "Desperate Housewives" | Betty Applewhite |