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Sanaa Lathan

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Sanaa Lathan
Lathan at the 2009 premiere of Wonderful World
Born
Sanaa McCoy Lathan
Years active1996-present

Sanaa McCoy Lathan (born September 19, 1971)[1] is an American actress. She has starred in box office hits such as: Love & Basketball, Alien vs. Predator, Something New, and The Family That Preys.

Biography

Lathan was born in New York City and attended Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics. Her first name means "work of art" in Swahili.[2] Her mother, Eleanor McCoy, was an actress and dancer[3] who performed on Broadway with Eartha Kitt. She is of African American and Native American descent.[4] Her father, Stan Lathan, worked behind the scenes in television for PBS, as well as a producer on shows such as Sanford & Son and Russell Simmons' Def Comedy Jam. Her parents divorced when she was young, however she remained close with both of her parents, moving between both Los Angeles and New York. Her brother is Tendaji Lathan (now a DJ).

She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a degree in English.[5] Lathan contemplated a career in law, but instead enrolled at the Yale School of Drama.

Career

Sanaa Lathan at the 2009 Comic Con in San Diego.

Following her training at Yale, where she studied with Earle R. Gister and performed in a number of Shakespeare's plays, Lathan earned acclaim both off-Broadway and on the Los Angeles stage. Encouraged by her father to make Los Angeles her professional base, the young actress found early television roles on episodes of such shows as In the House, Family Matters, NYPD Blue, and Moesha. During that same period, she won raves and a Best Actress nod from the Los Angeles NAACP Theatrical Award Committee for her performance in To Take Arms.

In 1998, Lathan earned a degree of recognition with her role as the mother of Wesley Snipes' title character in Blade. She followed this the subsequent year with a role in Life with Martin Lawerence and Eddie Murphy and back-to-back turns in The Best Man and The Wood. The Best Man was a comedic ensemble film, starring Taye Diggs, Nia Long, Harold Perrineau Jr., and Morris Chestnut. The Best Man went on to become one of the top ten highest grossing African American films in history and Lathan received a NAACP Image Award nomination for her performance. The Wood, another ensemble film starring Diggs and Omar Epps, cast her as the love interest of Epps, who at the time was also her real-life boyfriend. Lathan and Epps were reunited onscreen in Prince-Bythewood's Love & Basketball, this time playing a couple as passionate about basketball as they are about each other.

The film served as a break-out role for Lathan, who played a leading character instead of the girlfriend of one. Her performance in Love & Basketball earned her the 2001 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture, as well as an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Actress and a BET Award. That same year, Lathan earned additional acclaim for her work in the multicultural comedy Catfish in Black Bean Sauce and for her second collaboration with Prince-Bythewood, Disappearing Acts. Based on a novel by Terry McMillan, the HBO movie cast Lathan as an aspiring singer/songwriter in love with a carpenter, played by her Blade co-star Wesley Snipes. For her work in the film, Lathan earned an Essence Award for Best Actress, as well as the added assurance of a very busy work schedule. That year, she was named by Ebony magazine as one of its 55 Most Beautiful People and was honoured by Essence magazine and Black Entertainment Television.

In 2002, Lathan starred in the romantic comedy, Brown Sugar, alongside Taye Diggs, Queen Latifah, and Mos Def. Lathan’s performance earned a NAACP Image Award Nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture. The film also received a NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Motion Picture.

In 2004, Lathan starred on Broadway in A Raisin in the Sun with Sean Combs, Audra McDonald, and Phylicia Rashad. Lathan received a Tony Award nomination for Best Performance by a Featured Actress for her portrayal of Beneatha Younger. Several years later, Lathan reprised the role in a critically acclaimed ABC Network production of A Raisin in the Sun.

Lathan subsequently starred in several major Hollywood films, including Alien Vs. Predator which was Lathan's biggest role to date. Alien Vs. Predator was a major success grossing over $171 million dollars worldwide. Out of Time was also an important role for Lathan as she played the plot-twist antagonist, sharing the screen with protagonist Denzel Washington.

In 2006, Lathan co-starred with Simon Baker in Something New, a romantic comedy about an interracial relationship. Lathan appeared in a recurring role as Michelle Landau in another interracial relationship as the much younger wife of a Texas businessman (Larry Hagman) during the fourth season of the television series, Nip/Tuck.

Lathan played Andrea in Tyler Perry's film The Family That Preys, which also featured Alfre Woodard and Kathy Bates and was released in the U.S. on September 12, 2008.

In 2009, Lathan co-starred with Matthew Broderick in the drama Wonderful World. Lathan also voiced a character on The Cleveland Show, an animated series that will premier in the fall of 2009. The show was created by Seth McFarlane as a spin-off of the popular TV series Family Guy. In December 2009 Lathan returns to theater alongside James Earl Jones for the West End production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof[6].

Filmography

Year Title Role Other notes
1998 Blade Vanessa Brooks
Drive Carolyn Brody
1999 The Wood Alicia
The Best Man Robin
Life Daisy
2000 Love & Basketball Monica Wright
Disappearing Acts Zora Banks
2002 Brown Sugar Sidney 'Sid' Shaw
2003 Out of Time Ann Merai Harrison
2004 Alien vs. Predator Alexa Woods
2005 The Golden Blaze Monica voice only
2006 Something New Kenya McQueen
Nip/Tuck Michelle Landau recurring role
2008 A Raisin in the Sun Beneatha Younger
The Family That Preys Andrea Pratt-Bennett
2009 Wonderful World Khandi
The Cleveland Show Donna Tubbs voice

Awards and nominations

  • 2001, Best Actress: (Winner)
  • 2007, Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture: Something New (Nominated)
  • 2007, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series: Nip/Tuck (Nominated)
  • 2004, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture: Out of Time (Nominated)
  • 2003, Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture: Brown Sugar (Nominated)
  • 2001, Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture: Love & Basketball (Winner)
  • 2000, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture: The Best Man (Nominated)

References

  1. ^ a b Rebecca Flint Marx (2009). "Sanaa Lathan:Biography on MSN". MSN. Retrieved 2008-05-13.
  2. ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005125/bio
  3. ^ http://www.filmreference.com/film/65/Sanaa-Lathan.html
  4. ^ Vergo Magazine (2008). "VERGO Presents: Fashion with a Side of Life". Vergo Magazine. Retrieved 2009-05-13.
  5. ^ http://www.jewelmagonline.com/article.aspx?id=1029
  6. ^ Variety.com:Sanaa Lathan set for London's 'Cat'
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Interviews

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