Sanaa Lathan

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Sanaa Lathan
Sanaa Lathan
Born	Sanaa McCoy Lathan September 19, 1971 (1971-09-19) (age 36) New York City
Years active	1996-present

Sanaa McCoy Lathan (born September 19, 1971) is a Tony Award-nominated American actress. She has starred in box office hits such as: Love & Basketball, Alien vs. Predator, and Something New.

1 Biography
2 Selected filmography
3 Awards & nominations
4 External links
- 4.1 Interviews

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Sanaa was born in New York City to Eleanor McCoy, who performed on Broadway with the likes of Eartha Kitt and her father is Stan Lathan who worked behind the scenes in television for PBS, as well as a producer for the likes of shows as Sanford & Son, and Russell Simmons' Def Comedy Jam. Being exposed to the life of entertainment and stars at a very early age, had a profound impact upon her life. As a child, she was very athletic and was into the arts through training in Gymnastics and Dance. Her parents divorced when she was young, however she kept in close relationships with both of her parents moving between both Los Angeles and New York.

[edit] Career

Following her training at Yale, where she 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 back-to-back turns in The Best Man and The Wood. The Best Man was a comedic ensemble film, starring Taye Diggs, Nia Long and Morris Chestnut. 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. The relationship fell apart due to infidelity and they both moved on with their careers.

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 work in Love & Basketball earned her "Best Actress" nominations for both the NAACP Image Award and the Independent Spirit 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.

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 bad girl.

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 is scheduled to act in a Tyler Perry film, "A Family That Prays Together" also featuring Jennifer Hudson, Kathy Bates, and Alfre Woodard due to release in 2009.

[edit] Personal life

Generally private, Lathan has never been married but had been involved with actor Omar Epps, but is now currently dating Chicago Bears Defensive End Adewale Ogunleye. Gabrielle Union, Nia Long, and Regina Hall are among her closest friends.

[edit] Selected filmography

Year	Title	Role	Other notes
1998	Blade	Vanessa Brooks
1999	The Wood	Alicia
1999	The Best Man	Robin
2000	Love & Basketball	Monica Wright
2000	Disappearing Acts	Zora Banks	The Middle of Nowhere
2002	Brown Sugar	Sidney 'Sid' Shaw
2003	Out of Time	Ann Merai Harrison
2004	Alien vs. Predator	Alexa Woods
2006	Something New	Kenya McQueen
2006	Nip/Tuck	Michelle Landau	recurring role
2008	A Raisin in the Sun	Beneatha
2008	Wonderful World	Khandi
2008	The Family That Preys	Wonderful World
2008	Protecting Jimmy Leone	Elaine
2009	The Middle of Nowhere	Ruby

[edit] Awards & nominations

BET Award

2001, Best Actress: (Winner)

Black Movie Awards

2006, Best Actress: Something New (Nominated)

Black Reel Award

2006, Best Actress: Something New (Nominated)
2004, Best Actress: Out of Time (Winner)
2003, Best Actress: Brown Sugar (Nominated)
2001, Best Actress: Love & Basketball (Winner)
2001, Best Actress in a TV Movie/Mini-Series: Disappearing Acts (Nominated)

Image Awards

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)