Biography
Vanessa Bell Calloway is an American actress and dancer. She is known for her film roles as Princess Imani Izzi in the 1988 comedy Coming to America, as well as for her roles in What's Love Got to Do with It, The Inkwell, Crimson Tide, and Daylight. She is a nine-time NAACP Image Award nominee. She began her acting career in the ABC daytime soap opera, All My Children in 1985. After moving to Los Angeles in 1986, she began appearing in episodes of prime time shows such as The Colbys, Falcon Cre...
Known For
Complete Filmography

One of Them Days
2025
as Mama Ruth
Best friends and roommates Dreux and Alyssa are about to have One of Them Days. When they discover Alyssa’s boyfriend has blown their rent money, the ...

Queens of Christmas
2024
Doris and Julia, life-long friends and feuding neighbors, learn the true meaning of “sisterhood” and Christmas while hilariously competing for the ann...

Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch
2024
as Idella Landy
The comedic play tells the story of a Black preacher’s scheme to reclaim his inheritance and win back his church from a plantation owner.

Under the Boardwalk
2023
as Val (voice)
Two crabs embark on an epic journey to get home after a storm sweeps them away. Their courage soon unites their families, paving the way for great sum...

Black Girl, Erupted
2023
as Dr. Rebecca Francis
After a series of setbacks, high-achieving lawyer Reina must learn how to handle her mental health before her emotional outbursts destroy her career a...

Black Girl, Erupted
2023
Director
After a series of setbacks, high-achieving lawyer Reina must learn how to handle her mental health before her emotional outbursts destroy her career a...

Mosquito
2022
as Eve
A tale of sacrifice and showmanship told through rival doctors in the old west.

The Devil You Know
2022
as Della Cowans
Once-incarcerated Marcus Cowans is trying to turn over a new leaf with the support of his loving family. Upon discovering that one of his brothers may...

Starkeisha
2022
as The Voice
A woman, stressed before an import job interview, goes on a journey of self-discovery through her own subconscious.

Baby
2021
as Jackie
A young Black father must learn to navigate parenthood after his girlfriend mysteriously abandons him and their five-year-old daughter.

Someday At Christmas
2021
Director
Stranded in a train station on Christmas Eve, two strangers meet at a bar, only to lose complete contact with each other. After an unexpected series o...

A Holiday Chance
2021
as Sheryl
The family of the founder of a multi-million-dollar film company experiences some tragic events during the holidays and two sisters must set aside a l...

Coming 2 America
2021
as Imani Izzi
Prince Akeem Joffer is set to become King of Zamunda when he discovers he has a son he never knew about in America – a street savvy Queens native name...

Saints & Sinners: Judgment Day
2021
as Ella
Some say blood is thicker than water, but in our fictional small town of Cypress, vengeance is bigger than family loyalty when Mayor Ella Johnson is a...

Harriet
2019
as Rit Ross
The extraordinary tale of Harriet Tubman's escape from slavery and transformation into one of America's greatest heroes. Her courage, ingenuity and te...

American Skin
2019
as Bernice
A Marine veteran working as a school janitor tries to mend his relationship with his son after a divorce. When his son is killed by a police officer f...

Dragged Across Concrete
2019
as Jennifer Johns
Two policemen, one an old-timer, the other his volatile younger partner, find themselves suspended when a video of their strong-arm tactics becomes th...

Throwback Holiday
2018
as Mildred Anderson
Jacqueline is living an unfulfilled life in a doomed marriage. After a chance encounter with a former classmate, she rethinks her life's choices and w...

Her Only Choice
2018
as Dr. Bailey
A woman is faced with a choice to fight for her life or sacrifice it for another. After years of infertility, a newly-expectant mother is diagnosed wi...

Thriller
2018
as Mrs. Jackson
Years after a childhood prank goes horribly wrong, a clique of South Central LA teens find themselves terrorized during Homecoming weekend by a killer...

Unbroken: Path to Redemption
2018
as Lila Burkholder
Zamperini returns to California where he wound up marrying Cynthia Applewhite while wrestling with untreated PTSD, suffering constant nightmares, angr...

Love, Once and Always
2018
as Isabel
When Lucy’s childhood sweetheart plans to tear down the Gilded Age estate and replace it with a golf course, Lucy fights to preserve the historic mans...

Message From a Mistress
2017
as Heather
Longtime best friends Renee, Aria, Jaime and Jessa have shared just about everything. All hell breaks loose when Jessa sends them a message via DVD wi...

The Preacher's Son
2017
as Elena
When the romantic secrets of his family members become public, the career and community standing of a respected bishop are threatened.

Southside with You
2016
Chronicles a single day in the summer of 1989 when the future president of the United States, Barack Obama, wooed his future First Lady on an epic fir...

Love Under New Management: The Miki Howard Story
2016
as Josephine
Story of Miki Howard, an American R&B and Jazz singer, whose hits include "Ain't Nobody Like You" and "Ain't Nuthin' in the World."

The Bounce Back
2016
as Ellen
Father, author and relationship expert, Matthew Taylor is on a whirlwind book tour promoting his new best seller, The Bounce Back. He's got it all fig...

To Hell and Back
2014
Joe Patterson (Ernie Hudson), a wealthy land developer, learns as God and the Devil take a wager on his blessed life that results in a series of trage...

The Divorce
2014
as Eva
Successful TV anchorwoman, Yolanda Massey, is celebrating her recent divorce by throwing herself a divorce party with her closest sorority girlfriends...

Holla 2
2013
as Marion
On the eve of her wedding, Monica invites her friends to spend the night at Douglas Plantation, unaware that the estate is rumored to be haunted by th...

Between Sisters
2013
as Lillian
Aneesa wants to give her baby sister, Serena, the best wedding present ever. So, when they discover that they have two long-lost sisters, the search i...

The Obama Effect
2012
as Molly Thomas
A serious health scare ignites John Thomas, an insurance salesman in his 50s, to take a closer look at his life. Motivated by a misguided obsession wi...

A Beautiful Soul
2012
as Guardian Angel
An R&B singer snagged by the trappings of superstardom loses his way and turns his back on his church and faith-filled beginnings. Tragedy strikes...

The Last Fall
2012
as Marie Bishop
An NFL journeyman struggles to deal with life's complexities after his professional career is over.

The Undershepherd
2012
as Deaconess Carter
Best friends LC and Roland are two young ministers, climbing the ranks at the First Baptist Church under the leadership of Pastor Dr. Ezekial Canon.

Good Hair
2009
as Self
An exposé of comic proportions that only Chris Rock could pull off, GOOD HAIR visits beauty salons and hairstyling battles, scientific laboratories an...

Lakeview Terrace
2008
as Aunt Dorrie
A young interracial couple has just moved into their California dream home when they become the target of their next-door neighbor, who disapproves of...

Stompin'
2007
as Mrs. Jackson
The coming of age story about two brothers who struggle to mend their estranged relationship as their college campus gears up for a major Stepshow com...

Cheaper by the Dozen
2003
as Diana Philips
The Baker brood moves to Chicago after patriarch Tom gets a job coaching football at Northwestern University, forcing his writer wife, Mary, and the c...

Love Don't Co$t a Thing
2003
as Vivian Johnson
A high school outcast pays a cheerleader to pose as his girlfriend so he can be considered cool.

Biker Boyz
2003
as Anita
A mythic motorcycle tale of father and son", this is the story of Manuel Galloway, also known as "the King of Cali", the president of a motorcycle clu...

Dawg
2002
as Christine Hodges
To inherit a million dollars, an egotistical womanizer must find the women he's betrayed and convince them to forgive him.

The Red Sneakers
2002
as Berniece

All About You
2001
Two people run from the pain of their broken past. When they discover each other, they find themselves at a crossroad where the only thing that stands...

The Brothers
2001
as Dr. Thelma Woolridge
This is the story of four African-American "yuppies" (a banker, a doctor, a lawyer, and a "playboy") who call themselves "The Brothers". When the play...

Love Song
2000
as Evie Livingston
A privileged, black college student with a fiance falls in love with a white musician she meets on her 21st birthday.

A Private Affair
2000
as Nikka
A woman who has confronted the sour side of success finds love and discovers herself in this made-for-TV drama. Nikka (Vanessa Bell Calloway) is a wri...

Archibald the Rainbow Painter
1998
as Diana
Vietnam veteran Archibald Wright is a house painter hired to work on a Beverly Hills mansion where he becomes involved in the life of the resident fam...

The Cherokee Kid
1996
as Abby Holsopple
Isaih Turner didn’t want to be a hero-all he wanted was revenge. Orphaned when both his parents were cruelly murdered by the wealthy and powerful Cyru...

Daylight
1996
as Grace Calloway
A group of armed robbers fleeing the police head for the New Jersey Tunnel and run right into trucks transporting toxic waste. The spectacular explosi...

America's Dream
1996
as Miss Williams (segment "The Boy Who Painted Christ Black")
Made especially for the HBO cable network, this well-wrought feature is comprised of three short stories by three noted black American authors, each o...

Crimson Tide
1995
as Julia Hunter
After the Cold War, a breakaway Russian republic with nuclear warheads becomes a possible worldwide threat. U.S. submarine Capt. Frank Ramsey signs on...

The Inkwell
1994
as Francis Phillips
The Inkwell is about a 16-year-old boy coming of age on Martha's Vineyard in the summer of 1976.

What's Love Got to Do with It
1993
as Jackie
Singer Tina Turner rises to stardom while mustering the courage to break free from her abusive husband Ike.

Bebe's Kids
1992
as Jamika (voice)
When Robin meets the lovely Jamika he thinks he's in heaven. But when he meets her friend Bebe's children, whom she is looking after, he knows he's in...

Stompin' at the Savoy
1992
as Dorothy
As the Harlem Renaissance flourishes in jazzy New York City, Pauline, Esther and Alice struggle to survive. By day, they toil at dreary jobs, dreaming...

Memphis
1992
as Martha Kinship
Two men and a woman in the deep south of the 1950s plot to kidnap a child from a wealthy black family, mistakenly believing that no one will try to st...
Why Colors?
1992
An rainbow color comedy.

Polly: Comin' Home!
1990
as Nancy Dodds
Broadway style songs are used to tell this interesting story of an ingenious orphan who gets involved in matchmaking and striving for inter-racial und...

Polly
1989
as Nancy
An musical adaptation of the book "Pollyanna" set in the 1950's in which an orphan tries to use gladness to unite the people in a small southern town.

Death Spa
1988
as Marci Hewitt
Michael's health club is beseiged with a series of terrible murders involving killer saunas and other grisly devices. Michael's wife killed herself a ...

Coming to America
1988
as Imani Izzi
An African prince decides it’s time for him to find a princess... and his mission leads him and his most loyal friend to Queens, New York. In disguise...

The Return of Desperado
1988
as Molly Pickett
Duell McCall is in New Mexico running afoul of local land baron. McCall pauses long enough in his escape flight to come to the aid of black homestead...

Number One with a Bullet
1987
as Woman
Number One with a Bullet is a 1987 American police detective film directed by Jack Smight. A pair of detectives is assigned to investigate a murder, a...