Oprah Winfrey as Mattie Michael

Mary Alice as Fannie Michael

Olivia Cole as Miss Sophie

Robin Givens as Kiswana / Melanie Browne

Moses Gunn as Ben

Paula Kelly as Theresa

Lonette McKee as Lorraine

Barbara Montgomery as Miss Eva Turner

Phyllis Yvonne Stickney as Cora Lee

Leon as Abshu

Cicely Tyson as

Lynn Whitfield as Ciel

Paul Winfield as Sam Michael

William Allen Young as Eugene

Cicely Tyson as Mrs. Browne

Bruce Beatty as Crony

William Frankfather as Judge

Clark Johnson as Butch Fuller

Homeselle Joy as Betina

Eugene Lee as Basil

Bebe Drake as Cleo

Glenn Plummer as C.C. Baker

Roxanne Reese as Alfreda

Douglas Turner Ward as Reverend Woods

Samm-Art Williams as Cecil Garvin

Jonathan 'Fudge' Leonard as Brucie

Maya Leonard as Diedre

Phill Lewis as Bottom

Bee-Be Smith as Hippolyta

Larenz Tate as Sammy

Geoffrey Thorne as Theseus