After coming home from a long day of work sometimes all you want is to plop down on the couch and find something good to watch on TV. Well thank goodness prime time TV is booming with shows that intrigue us and actors and actresses that look like us. With acting that leaves you thirsting for more and silently cursing yourself if you’re away and failed to DVR the latest episode, these celebs are well worth your undivided attention.

“WENN”

Kerry Washington

Kerry Washington plays fierce crisis manager Olivia Pope in the political drama-series Scandal. As a former White House Communications Director for the president, it is difficult for her to shed her past – which includes a secret, steamy affair with President Fitzgerald. Washington’s character has a tight-knit relationship with each member of her new firm, having helped them with problems in their past – but it’s Pope who is ultimately struggling to deal with her own personal crisis.

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You just might be asking yourself, why, oh why are you exploring the secrets behind B.A.P.S?! I know. The movie is far from a classic but that doesn’t stop it from being entertaining. Despite the fact that you can probably find this flick in the 2 for $5 bin at Walmart, I still get quite a kick out of it. Which is why I’m bringing you these secrets today. An even better question is why did you click on the post? Aha! Gotcha! You love it too. Now that you’re here, you might as well learn something. Let’s begin.

We’ve talked so much about underrated actresses in the past, but the ladies on this list are women who had huge breakthrough roles in some of our favorite movies. And while it was easy for us to see them having all the luck and reaching superstardom in Hollywood (or at least black Hollywood), things haven’t been that easy. We’re still hoping they’ll become household names sooner or later. Check out 9 black actresses and the movies that put them on our radar and help us figure out why they aren’t as big as the Gabrielles, Tarajis, Nias and more. Where are they now?

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Tracy Camilla Johns

My hair idol! And also the heroine in one of my favorite films of all time. Tracy Camila Johns was dope as the sexually liberated Nola Darling in Spike Lee’s She’s Gotta Have It. She knew what she wanted, and the number of men she wanted it with, and scoffed at the idea of monogamy and being a one-man woman (how do you like that!?). But after she breaking through in one of Spike’s first feature films, she kept the momentum going for a second, and then fizzled out. Johns went on to have a tiny role in Mo Better Blues, was the scandalous girlfriend of G in New Jack City, and had a small role in an early Air Jordan commercial, but after ’91, that was it. *sad face*

Tracy Camilla Johns in “New Jack City”

Photo courtesy of IFC.com.

If you don’t have a Valentine and aren’t perusing the streets with your girls celebrating love in general, you should still observe this day of “amore” by watching some films about all things love-based. But we’re not talking the normal cheesy rom-com, but instead, movies that show the ups and downs of real love. Save the fairy tales for Disney and the kids and check out our favorites (and recommend your own below)!