10 Best Movies Starring The Cast Of The Six Triple Eight

Netflix's The Six Triple Eight has an impressive cast who have starred in a wide range of acclaimed movies. The Tyler Perry-directed Netflix movietells the story of the 6888th Battalion, the only all-female and all-Black unit to serve overseas during World War II. They achieved the incredible task of sorting through 17 million pieces of backlogged mail in less than 90 days, thus reopening lines of communication, and boosting morale. The Six Triple Eight's cast is led by Kerry Washington, who plays Majority Charity Adams, the commanding officer of the 6888th Battalion.

Other key figures from The Six Triple Eight's true story include the 6888th Battalion's Lena Derriecott, played by Ebony Obsidian, with the movie following her journey before joining the unit, along with her life during and after her service. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Sam Waterston), First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt (Susan Sarandon), and civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune (Oprah Winfrey) also play pivotal roles in the story, despite their limited screen time. Each of these actors, alongside other cast members, has starred in movies with positive reviews and that have won or been nominated for prestigous awards.

10 Descendants

Sarah Jeffery

In The Six Triple Eight, Sarah Jeffery plays Dolores Washington, one of the members of the 6888th battalion. Jeffery's most acclaimed movie is the 2015 Descendants, which has a 90% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes. She plays Princess Audrey, who is the daughter of Princess Aurora in Descendants' world. Descendants became a beloved Disney Channel franchise, in large part because of the success of the 2015 movie's casting and music.

The popularity of the 2015 Descendants and of Jeffery's performance led to her reprising the role of Princess Audrey in the spinoff Descendants: Wicked World and in Descendants 3, the final installment of the Descendants trilogy. While Descendants was positively received and helped build a successful franchise, it pales in comparison with the more critically acclaimed and award-winning movies that many of Jeffery's The Six Triple Eight co-stars have appeared in over the years.

9 The Color Purple

Oprah Winfrey

In Steven Spielberg's 1985 adaptation of Alice Walker's novel The Color Purple, Oprah Winfrey plays Sofia Butler. Winfrey's performance as Sofia earned her an Academy Award nomination, one of 11 nominations that the movie received. As the strong and confident Sofia, who stands up for herself in a horrific situation, Winfrey delivers a powerful and memorable portrayal of the character, and it remains one of the best performances of her film career.

The Color Purple was remade as a movie in 2023, with Oprah Winfrey being one of its producers.

This version of the movie is widely considered to be a worthy adaptation of Walker's novel, with Winfrey's performance being a key element of what makes the story work as a film. However, unlike some of her The Six Triple Eight co-stars, who were nominated and won Academy Awards for their best movies, Winfrey did not win an Academy Award for The Color Purple. Some questionable choices in Spielberg's direction also prevent it from ranking higher.

8 The Killing Fields

Sam Waterston

While Sam Waterston is best known for playing Jack McCoy in the long-running television series Law & Order, his best movie is The Killing Fields. The story, which is based on real events, revolves around two journalists, the American Sydney Schanberg and the Cambodian Dith Pran, in Cambodia during Pol Pot's ethnic cleansing campaign known as "Year Zero." Waterston plays Schanberg in an emotional performance that led to an Academy Award nomination.

The Killing Fields is a tragic and moving story that highlights both the horrors of war during Year Zero and the power of friendship between Schanberg and Pran. Waterston is not just a supporting character, but is one of the two principal individuals at the forefront of the story. While it is the best movie and one of the best performances of Waterston's career, it is not quite as memorable as Waterston's television roles, which have more so defined his acting legacy.

7 Django Unchained

Kerry Washington

Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained is an all-time great revenge movie as Django Freeman, a former slave, fights to reunite with his wife, Broomhilda "Hildi" von Shaft (Kerry Washington). Django teams up with a German bounty hunter, Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz). Seeing Django and Schultz killing the plantation owner Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio) and those loyal to him is deeply satisfying, with these ruthless and bigoted characters being among the most vile in any Tarantino movie.

Django Unchained is the ultimate story of revenge, featuring some of the most over-the-top and unforgettable action in all of Tarantino's filmography.

Django Unchained is the ultimate story of revenge, featuring some of the most over-the-top and unforgettable action in all of Tarantino's filmography. Washington's performance as Broomilda is also strong and conveys the necessary emotion for a character involved in such extreme torment and peril. That being said, some elements of Django Unchained have aged poorly, and the movie's strengths are not able to override some of its problematic features.

6 Little Miss Sunshine

Dean Norris

Little Miss Sunshine tells the tale of the dysfunctional Hoover family who travel to California to support Olive (Abigail Breslin) and her opportunity to participate in the Little Miss Sunshine children's beauty pageant. The Hoover family's journey is equally heartfelt, hilarious, and tragic, making it a true emotional rollercoaster. Little Miss Sunshine's emotionaland ultimately beautiful story led to a Best Picture nomination, a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award win for Alan Arkin, and a Best Original Screenplay Academy Award for Michael Arndt.

Dean Norris, who plays the antagonistic General Halt in The Six Triple Eight, is State Trooper McCleary in Little Miss Sunshine. McCleary pulls the Hoover family over during their challenging trip to the Little Miss Sunshine contest. Little Miss Sunshine is arguably the best movie on this list, but since Norris' role is so minor, it is unfair to rank it higher than some of the other terrific movies that the cast of The Six Triple Eight have been in, and where they have much more prominent roles.

5 If Beale Street Could Talk

Ebony Obsidian

After the success of Moonlight, Barry Jenkins' next movie was If Beale Street Could Talk, which adapts James Baldwin's novel of the same name. Clementine "Tish" Rivers (KiKi Layne) and Alonzo "Fonny" Hunt (Stephan James) are a couple that are in love. However, the life they are building for themselves is upended when Fonny is accused of a serious crime that he did not commit. Ebony Obsidian plays Adrienne Hunt, one of Fonny's sisters.

If Beale Street Could Talk holds an impressive 95% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes. It is a powerful adaptation of Baldwin's novel with stunning cinematography that continues to prove Jenkins is one of the most talented directors of the modern era. If Beale Street Could Talk is an outstanding film and the only reason that it does not rank higher is that Obsidian has more of a supporting role, with her performance not being as central to the story.

4 Thelma & Louise

Susan Sarandon

Alien, Blade Runner, and Gladiator are generally considered to be Ridley Scott's best movies. These movies are phenomenal and heavily influenced each of their respective genres, but Scott's Thelma & Louise, starring Susan Sarandon, is an equally exceptional movie. Sarandon plays Louise while Geena Davis plays Thelma, with their story becoming a gripping crime drama grounded by the strength of the leading characters' friendship when their road trip takes an unexpected turn.

Both Sarandon and Davis are excellent in Thelma & Louise, with both receiving Academy Award nominations for their performances. It is one of Susan Sarandon's best movies and allows her to capture a wide range of emotions in a story that excels in its humor and drama. Thelma & Louise also became an important feminist movie. While it is one of Sarandon's best movies, there is another cinematic project of hers that proved to be even more compelling.