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By Veronica Mixon
October 11, 2002
Sanaa Lathan is the premier actress working in
African American romantic comedies today. She
has starred in The Best Man and The
Wood and given the average Black woman a smart,
pretty heroine to admire. Male fans adore her,
too because she is a class act.
Born in New York City to an actress mother, Eleanor
McCoy and Stan Lathan, who worked behind the scenes
at PBS, Sanaa lived on both the east and west
coast after her parents divorced. After graduating
from the Yale School of Drama, she appeared on
several television sitcoms including "In the House,"
Moseha and Family Matters.
Her films include Disappearing Acts, Catfish
in Black Bean Sauce and Love in Basketball.
She lives in Los Angeles and is currently dating
Omar Epps.
THE INTERVIEW
It's been a long time since Love and Basketball?
Yes, it is. People still come up to me. For a
long time, I said I want to do something different
in terms of people responding to my work. [It
was released in 1999] I gave basketball the day
after we stop shooting.
Were you surprised by the success of Basketball?
Definitely. You never know. You always hope for
that. Your performance is in the hands of the
director, the editor and studio. I speak to people
who say they watch it regularly - like once a
week. That's such a compliment.
This film has a similar theme?
Yes. Mike Elliot told me - I don't know if he
was trying to woo me - that he wrote the character
of Sidney with me in mind. So, it was much more
like 'Basketball' than... I told him if I wanted
to do it, I wanted it to be as different as possible
and I think they've succeeded.
Have your ever fallen in love with a friend?
[Thinks for a moment.] No. I pretty much always
knew right away.
This is your third movie with Taye [Diggs]?
Yes. I didn't really have any scenes with him
in "The Wood." We hit it off and said 'we're going
to work together.' A month later, we were working
together in "The Best Man." We already had that
ease which only helps when you're playing best
friends. It didn't feel like work, this job. It
was like coming to play. In between shopping and
catching up and gossiping, it was fun.
I really enjoyed the boxing scene between
you and Nicole.
That was one of the things I liked about the
film - the supporting characters in it. That was
what made it a good romantic comedy because they
were... [Not villains]. They weren't bad people.
Sometimes, it's not so black and white. [And]
Nicole, I really respect her as an actress and
I've known her for years just from being around
the circuit.
Was boxing scene difficult?
Yes, it was difficult because just the mechanics
of actually talking and punching when you were
suppose to-It was hard. The shooting schedule
was quick but it was fun!
She looked like she was whacking you.
I know. She whacked me. She was mad. It was something
that Rick added. It happened just before the [actors]
strike and then it didn't happen. Rick had an
extra four months to work on the script. And he
put that. It wasn't there before. I thought was
cute. They do boxing aerobics now so it's so natural.
Were you working with Denzel Washington when
he won the Academy Award?
No, right after. It was the first movie after.
It was great. The role for me was really challenging.
Carl Franklin was directing. I feel like I learned
so much from both of them. It was a great experience
for me.
He's suspected of murder or something?
Murder? It's a thriller in the vein of 'Body
Heat.'
Was it a hot role?
Hot role. Luckily, it was really hot and there's
a lot of nudity and it was great. They wanted
to be PG-13. The scenes were hot but it's not
bodacious.
You got cover yourself when you were doing
scenes?
Yeah or with lingerie. But, I think that can
be sexier by leaving it to the imagination.
What have you learned about this business?
[Thinks] I don't know. It's hard! The pay off
and the rewards are so great. But it can be a
hard world. And I think the biggest thing for
me has been working on myself. It just makes it
easier. Like really, keeping myself grounded and
keeping in mind the things I decided about - my
integrity. That's an issue in this movie. Sometimes
that scary because you might turn something down
because of your integrity but you don't know how
you're going to pay your rent. That's another
misconception. People think I'm rich. I hope I'll
be super rich someday. They see you in movies
and they think you're making $20 million. I really
want to be selective. I want to build each time.
Are there a lot of temptations to do the wrong
thing in Hollywood?
[Nods yes] The worse thing is - I don't know,
I'm different. I'd rather not work than work on
something that I'm not passion about. A lot of
people have different philosophies. Some people
- their motivation is money, some people its fame.
That's fine but it's scary sometimes. It's like
really having faith that something that will materialize
out of the sky. It's great.
Money projects don't last.
That's one thing that I've learned. There are
a lot of shooting stars. Somebody who is really
hot, you know, you look at them and say why can't
I have that. But they burn out really quickly.
And, then there's the few. If you think back even
five years ago, who was hot? Who was on all of
the magazines? Then there's the few and there
are only a handful.
Your father is in the business.
In the beginning, every piece of advice he gave
me, it was different for me. It was weird. He's
just very hands off and the president of my fan
club.
Did he give you advice?
He has given me great advice. One of things I
remember - you can get very emotionally involved
[because] it makes you question self. You have
to audition and it's like constantly being on
a job interview and getting rejected. He...when
I get...[pauses] ...and then naturally actors,
he told me don't ever take something personally
and don't ever get upset over a role. It's very
difficult but you get better at it. Like now,
I love where I am now. If I love something, I
really believe that it was right because there
have been jobs that I couldn't wait to have and
didn't get it and been like on the floor. Very
upset and then, something comes along that was
better.
What do you do to relax?
[Hmmm] This. [Laughs] Get massages. I haven't
worked out in a month. I feel that because my
brain - I start to worry a little bit more. I
run. I do rigorous workout. It cools me out mentally.
Do you have another film coming up?
No, not yet.
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