Horror and thriller movies are known for their jump scares, suspenseful music, and spine-tingling plot twists. But for black actors, these genres have historically been a double-edged sword. Black actors are often relegated to stereotypical roles. And almost always die before the credits roll, sometimes before the credits at the beginning.
However, there are some black actors who have made it out alive to fight another day. Check out the 33 black actors who have survived horror/thriller movies.
Keith David as Chief Mechanic Childs in “The Thing”
Ving Rhames as Officer Kenneth in “Dawn of the Dead”
Taye Diggs as Eddie Baker in “House on Haunted Hill” (Remake)
Jada Pinkett Smith as Jeryline in “Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight”
Taylor Russell in Escape Room and Escape Room: Tournament of Champions
LL Cool J as Preacher in “Deep Blue Sea”
Sanaa Lathan as Alexa Woods in “AVP: Alien vs. Predator”
Brandy as Karla Wilson in ‘I Still Know What You Did Last Summer’
Busta Rhymes as Freddie Harris in ‘Halloween: Resurrection’
Daniel Kaluuya as Chris Washington in ‘Get Out’ and in Nope
Brandon Quintin Adams as Fool in “People Under the Stairs”
Ice Cube as Danny Rich in “Anaconda”
Naomie Harris as Selena in “28 Days Later”
Richard T. Jones as Cooper in “Event Horizon”
Loretta Devine in ‘Urban Legends: Final Cut”
Duane Martin in ‘Scream 2’
Mario Van Peebles in “Jaws: The Revenge” (although he was actually eaten in the original cut, he survived in later cuts)
Ken Sagoes as Roland Kinkaids “A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: The Dream Warriors”
John “Beau” Billingslea as Moss Woodley in “The Blob”
Danny Glover as Harrigan in “Predator 2”
Rah Digga as Maggie in “Thirteen Ghosts”
Wesley Snipes in “Blade” franchise
Halle Berry in “Gothika”
John Boyega in “Attack the Block”
Gugu Mbatha-Raw in “The Cloverfield Paradox”
Octavia Spencer in “Ma” (although she was left in a burning house and we never find out whether she made it out or not)
Lupita Nyong’o as Adelaide in “Us”
Keke Palmer as Emerald Hayworth in “Nope”
Georgina Campbell as Tess in “Barbarian”
Jamie Foxx as Bud in “Day Shift”
Snoop Dogg as Big John Elliott in Day Shift
