In 1998, she starred as the mother of Wesley Snipes' title character in Blade. She followed with a role in Life and back-to-back turns in The Wood and The Best Man. She was then cast as the love interest of Omar Epps in Prince-Bythewood's Love & Basketball. In 2001, she earned additional acclaim for her work in the multicultural comedy Catfish in Black Bean Sauce. Next was her second collaboration with Prince-Bythewood: Disappearing Acts, based on a novel by Terry McMillan. In 2002, she starred in the romantic comedy, Brown Sugar. She subsequently starred in several major Hollywood films, including Alien vs. Predator and Out of Time, in which she played the plot-twist antagonist, sharing the screen with Denzel Washington.