The awards season never fails to remind us just what kind of roles they prefer to have us playing. Thankfully, the Pan African Film Festival has remained dedicated in its mission: "to present and showcase the broad spectrum of Black creative works, particularly those that reinforce positive images and help to destroy negative stereotypes." On February 10, the festival will be honoring Loretta Devine with its Lifetime Achievement Award, an accolade previously given to pioneers such as Phylicia Rashad, Louis Gossett Jr., Glynn Turman, and Della Reese

The esteemed actress received both her Bachelors and Masters degree in acting and theatre, having known from an young age that she was destined to perform. Throughout her three decades of superb acting, the award-winning Devine has racked up an outstanding amount of roles ranging from mother to lover and everyone in between. So many so that choosing a favorite might take you a while. Whether it's Gloria Matthews in Waiting to Exhale, Beverly in The Preacher's Wife, Adele Webber in Grey's Anatomy or the many, many others, audiences across the world have come to love Devine's special knack for making viewers feel like family.

What's your favorite Loretta Devine character?