page_title: Alfre Woodard
section_title: 2010s
hierarchical_section_title: Alfre Woodard / Career / 2010s
caption_attribution_description: JCSU Alfre Woodard Congressional Black Caucus - Johnson C. Smith University
context_page_description: Alfre Woodard is an American actress, producer, and political activist. She has been named one of the most versatile and accomplished actors of her generation. She has been nominated once each for an Academy Award and Grammy Award and 18 times for an Emmy Award and has also won a Golden Globe Award and three Screen Actors Guild Awards.
  Woodard began her acting career in theater. After her breakthrough role in the Off-Broadway play For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf, she made her film debut in Remember My Name. In 1983, she won major critical praise and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Cross Creek. In the same year, Woodard won her first Primetime Emmy Award for her performance in the NBC drama series Hill Street Blues. Later in the 1980s, Woodard had leading Emmy Award–nominated performances in a number of made for television movies, and another Emmy-winning role as a woman dying of leukemia in the pilot episode of L.A. Law. She also starred as Dr. Roxanne Turner in the NBC medical drama St.
context_section_description: From 2010 to 2011, Woodard starred as Lt. Tanya Rice in the TNT comedy-drama series, Memphis Beat, winning a Gracie Allen Award for each of its two seasons. One critic said:  "I originally tuned in for Jason Lee, who plays a police detective named Dwight who likes to croon the blues. But I was won over by Alfre Woodard, who plays Dwight's by-the-book boss." Memphis Beat was canceled after two seasons. In 2010, she also was cast in the third season of HBO's True Blood as Ruby Jean Reynolds. garnering another Primetime Emmy nomination in 2011 for her recurring role. Woodard also guest-starred in Shonda Rhimes' dramas Grey's Anatomy in 2011 and Private Practice in 2012. Also in 2012, Woodard was cast as Ouiser (played by Shirley MacLaine in the 1989 film) in the remake of the classic comedy-drama film, Steel Magnolias. The Lifetime television remake premiered on October 7, 2012 and drew 6.5 million viewers, making it the third most-viewed Lifetime Original film in the network’s history. Woodard received critical acclaim for her comedic performance, as well as Primetime Emmy and Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations. In 2013, Woodard made Emmy history with 17 nominations for 16 different roles. Also in 2013, she had a recurring role in the BBC America period drama, Copper.
  In 2013, Woodard appeared in Steve McQueen's historical drama film 12 Years a Slave as Mistress Harriet Shaw, a formerly enslaved woman who has risen in the Southern caste system. Though her appearance was brief, her performance was praised as powerful. Along with the other cast members, she was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, in addition to her nomination for a NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for her single-scene appearance. In 2013, she also appeared in Ava DuVernay's short film The Door, a part of Miu Miu's Women's Tales series. The following year, Woodard was cast in the horror-thriller Annabelle and the comedy-drama Mississippi Grind. She also starred in the independent drama film Knucklehead as an abusive mother.
  On March 21, 2014, it was announced that Woodard would be playing the role of the first female President of the United States in the NBC political drama pilot, State of Affairs opposite Katherine Heigl. The pilot was ordered to series in May 2014. About her role, Woodard said, "It's fun to play the President, rather than to be the President. But what drew me was how smart the script was, and this world we hadn't seen before—this world most Americans didn't know existed before we went after Bin Laden. And that it was being done by people who knew the world. So we're not stepping too outside the boundaries; it's based in realism. And I love politics. I have worked in politics for several decades, so it was a chance to live in a world that was important to me." The series premiered with generally negative reviews from critics, but most reviewers praised Woodard's performance. Amy Amatangelo of Boston Herald  gave the premiere grade "C", stating that, "Alfre Woodard isn't given a lot to do as President Constance Payton in the premiere, but, unlike Heigl, she does have the gravitas for the role, and the show would be wise to use her more. The series sets up some interesting reveals in the hour's final moments. They potentially could make the show more interesting. But for now the state of affairs is rather mediocre." The series was canceled after a single season.
  In November 2014, Woodard was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. She said in her acceptance speech that she believes it is her responsibility to use her fame to help others less fortunate. Also in November 2014, Woodard narrated "Women in Politics", an episode of season 2 of Makers: Women Who Make America.
  In 2015, Woodard was cast as a lead in the film adaptation of Sarah Weeks' young adult novel So B. It directed by Stephen Gyllenhaal. The film was released in April 2017 by Good Deed Acquires. In 2016, she also had a small role in Marvel's film Captain America: Civil W
caption: Woodard in Johnson C. Smith University in 2012
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