You can’t talk about multitalented stars without mentioning Janelle Monáe. Not only is the 34-year-old an expert singer, dancer, composer, and guitarist, but she’s also a skilled actor. Over the years, we’ve seen Monáe step into roles ranging from historical figures to spirited figurines (we’re looking at you, Welcome to Marwen and UglyDolls), using her wit, charm, and passion to enwrap viewers.
In an interview with Variety, Monáe opened up about balancing her Hollywood ventures with making music, saying: “I look at myself as a magician. I try to make magic with whatever I touch. That requires hard work, that requires a certain amount of focus and attention to whatever it is that I’m doing. So if I’m doing a film, I wouldn’t try to write an album at the same time. I need to have the mental headspace to stay fully committed to whatever role I agreed to do.” She’s certainly put a spell on us with her onscreen performances, so in honor of her film and TV undertakings, read about her standout roles ahead.
Related: Janelle Monáe Calls For Action to End Systemic Racism: "I'm Not Settling For Lip Service"
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Moonlight (2016)
This Academy Award-winning film features Monáe as Teresa, the girlfriend of a drug dealer named Juan (Mahershala Ali), who becomes a father figure to a young boy named Chiron (Alex Hibbert) as he deals with bullying and comes to terms with his sexuality.
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Hidden Figures (2016)
Hidden Figures stars Janelle Monáe as real-life trailblazer Mary Jackson – NASA’s first Black female engineer – who helps the US make major breakthroughs in the Space Race against the Soviet Union.
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Welcome to Marwen (2018)
After surviving a brutal assault and hate crime, artist Mark Hogancamp (Steve Carell) copes with his memory and motor loss by creating and photographing a model world named Marwen. In the imaginary locale, a group of figurine women based on actual people in Mark’s life protect him from Nazi soldiers. Monáe portrays Julie, a social worker who encourages Mark in real-world rehab and becomes G.I. Julie, a veteran soldier who helps Mark, aka Cap’n Hogie, in Marwen.
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UglyDolls (2019)
Moxy (Kelly Clarkson) is a chipper resident of Uglyville – a place for dolls too flawed to give to children – who dreams of being in the “Big World” and finding a child companion. She and her friends set out to fulfill a meaningful purpose, ending up at the Institute of Perfection where they’re ostracized for being different. Monáe’s character, Mandy, is one of the few kindhearted dolls in the flawless town who helps Moxy and the Uglyville outcasts.
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Harriet (2019)
In this biographical film about Harriet Tubman, Monáe portrays Marie Buchanon, the daughter of a freed slave and owner of a boarding house in Philadelphia where she befriends Harriet (Cynthia Erivo).
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Homecoming (2020)
Season two of Amazon Prime Video’s Homecoming shows Monáe stepping into the protagonist role, taking over from Julia Roberts. She plays an amnesiac named Jackie who awakens in a rowboat and embarks on a mission to figure out her identity and piece together information about her former life.
