I couldnt even entertain the question without the fear of judgment in my ear: Have you lost your mind? Shes the author of the books All the Things We Never Knew and Calling My Name. Stan worked behind the scenes for PBS television. Its like: Me, or basketball, which is what he was asking her at the time. Im gonna be the first girl in the NBA, she says. And that says a lot about, I think, where I was, [laughs] just thinking about the love story. After that, she went on to study acting under the careful guidance of professional acting teacher Earle R. Gister. Predator. What song would we cue up right here for you? If I had been an actress who hadnt really done a lot, just a couple of acting classes, I would have probably been terrified. That mastery had led me to the most prestigious law school in the country. She became famous as a voice actress from 2009 to 2013. Thats freedom. What was the trajectory in your mind, and the steps that led you to ultimately embracing your identity as a writer? Magazines, Or create a free account to access more articles. Gina [Prince-Bythewood] really wanted, and the producers, they really wanted a basketball player who could act as opposed to an actress who they could teach to play basketball, she told LAs KCAL, the CBS affiliate. We had other Black love movies at the time, like Love Jones and even Brown Sugar. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Tamani: It rings that way. Its important to be able to stand in the truth of yourself and to be able to fight for that, even when its unpopular or other people disagree with you. Become TUKO.co.ke ambassador get a branded T-shirt, hoodie or water bottle at our TUKO Shop! Im riding my own bike. And then a fight breaks out. But for me, Monica Wright will always be a shining example of whats possible when we have the courage to stand alone in the truth of ourselves., Tamani: You make that sound so good. Id gone to law school because my father was a lawyer and expected me to become one, too. Percy: Harvard, no less. And I love what you say here. She says Monicas dedication was a revelation to her. Sanaa Lathan On Filming Love & Basketball: I Was Miserable Deriving from a dance background, the 47-year-old thespian had no prior basketball experience But, going back to the theater, I was with my girls, I was with my friends we were excited to see it. Im just curious how youve both grown together, you and Love & Basketball. Liara Tamani is the author of the upcoming novel All The Things We Never Knew (Greenwillow/HarperCollins). Its funny, because Im like, Where do you get this from? Her typical diet plan is as follows . Help us change more lives, join TUKO.co.kes Patreon programme. But the gray gloominess that hung over New England was becoming hard to distinguish from the gloom I felt in myself. Percy: So it sounds like when you went to see it for the first time, you went really to have this lovely, celebratory experience with your girlfriends. It feels so right that we end this podcast by talking about a movie that I love dearly, Love & Basketball, with the wonderful writer Liara Tamani. Percy: Yeah, and one of the things that the movie shows, which honestly Im your same age, and so I saw the movie and had this very all I focused on was the love story, at the time. Work is not the only thing. I love the film Love & Basketball. And when you are so focused or when I was so focused on success, success, achievement, achievement, and worried about what other people would think of me if I dropped out, or if I went down a path that was less traveled and less set up for the type of success that society thinks is successful, there was a great fear in departing from that, because its about setting up a version of success for yourself or defining success for yourself. Love & Basketball 20th anniversary: Gina Prince-Bythewood and It has been a joy for our team to make this for all of you. Dont think Im preaching this message from the mountaintop. And its funny, because I think that shaped me in so many ways, and so Im the very opposite with my daughter. But even with that, the overall message of the movie is that she falls in love, and she is loved, just for who she is, not because of this kind of way of showcasing femininity. I was lost in ittrapped inside an impossible cloud of other peoples opinions and expectations. MC Lytes, I think Lyte as a Rock, when she then is the older character, when shes Sanaa Lathan, and shes schooling girls on the basketball court at school. She gets to the point where she knows it, she makes this decision with me, but yet, I was like the default. The whole song theyre very, very intentional with the music, and it was a beautiful thing to experience, for sure. Actor Age Check - How old was Sanaa Lathan in WebMonica (Sanaa Lathan) and Quincy (Omar Epps) have wanted to be professional basketball stars since they were kids. Sanaa completed her schooling from theManhattan Center for Science and Mathematics. Love & Basketball, written and directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, is a movie that gets better and better with each viewing. Sanaa Lathan has bagged significant roles in TV series. And without having the bravery to at least move in that direction, that discovery doesnt take place. She takes her incense wherever she goes to feel at home. And of course she should choose herself, if somebodys asking you that. Prince-Bythewood: We'd go back and forth on the lot. And Sanaa looked great in the movie and she could do things really well, like dribbling [two] basketballs at the same time. Lathan: That two-ball scene that I'm in -- one of my bones to pick with Gina is that she put it in a silhouette. And because of that people don't think it's really me. There wasnt a lot of joy and there wasnt a lot of trust in me. Percy: No, those are your words! She gets to the point where she makes this decision with me, but I felt like the default.. Im still working to be free, still learning how to live outside of fear as I shape my professional space as an author. Her first name Sanaa is pronounced as Sa-NAA just as Sinatra would be pronounced with missing tra. And every time, I ask myself, How can I be more free? Sanaa believes more in spirituality than religion. And Im really, really excited to take you back in time to the year 2000. Along the way to becoming a writer, I worked in marketing, which I guess I have to incorporate it for my writing, but I dont enjoy it. Its just going in the direction of things you love, youll discover things about yourself. The same year saw her do back-to-back turns in The Best Man and The Wood films. The free parts. This site uses cookies to serve you better. I played basketball in high school even though it wasnt my thing. Sanaa Lathan Shares Why Shooting 'Love And The On Being Project is located on Dakota land. Comments will be open until 12 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday so please swing by, we need everyone off the bench. Set in Los Angeles (where Prince-Bythewood ran track at the University of California), it uses the intimately personal to memorably open up a larger, richer world. She is best pals with actressRegina Hall. And I was already feeling like, I have to, because you know, when you get to that low point, its like, I cant stay here. My favoritestill. Another commented, Great message and I cannot picture anybody else in that role! An American actor and former fashion model, Shemar is one of Lathan's boyfriend. Shes worked steadily since, honing her craft and affirming her talent with movies like Beyond the Lights (2014) and the limited series Shots Fired (2017). And I was starting to get this terrifying sense that if I stayed in law school, I could get trapped in her the rest of my life.. A young, brown-skinned girl wearing an L.A. Lakers cap and a cant-tell-me-nothing attitude. While Monica and Quincy are falling in love, theyre also trying to navigate the pressures that come with trying to make a career out of something that they love, basketball. But nobody ever emphasizes it,to most kids, I think. Its drama; its the movie. Unfortunately, no. | Tamani: Yeah what I was not ready for was the gem hiding inside of that romance. Prince-Bythewood, who started out writing for TV, developed the script for Love & Basketball at the Sundance labs. [laughs] When you say that, its like, its so not true, though. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Sanaa Lathan's net worth is $5 million as of 2022. | We publish narratives intentionally and specifically to enlighten and transform the world. Some of her notable film credit includes the box-office hit The Best Man and its 2013 sequel, Alien vs. What kind of fool drops out of Harvard Law School? I had no idea what I wanted to be. However, she got through it all by totally mastering Monica when it came to the actual acting. The free parts. It Changed My Whole Life very appropriate title. Monica may know what she wants in life, but getting it isnt easy. Her brother Tendaji Lathan is a well-known DJ. I would always get to the last step and they would throw in another basketball player, she said. She ended up training five hours a day for a while before actually getting the job. She wasnt auditioning a lot of actresses. It was the basketball.. I hope you are, too. I can laugh about it now, she said. She is the daughter of Stan Lathan and Eleanor McCoy. And we also produce other podcasts you might enjoy, like On Being with Krista Tippett, Poetry Unbound, and Becoming Wise. Its a beautiful thing. One of my all time favorites! Love & Basketball pays homage to idea that anything boys can do, girls can do better, and it and ends with Quincy and Monica engaging in a final game of double or nothing with very high stakes: She challenges him to one-on-one. Im so curious if thats something that strikes you. Flash-forward to later in the movie: shes a high school senior (played by Sanaa Lathan), sitting at the dining table, listening to her dad urge her to consider options besides playing basketball. Sanaa McCoy Lathan is an American actress and voice actress, best known for her performance in A Raisin in the Sun for which she was nominated for a Tony Award. And even though Im so very conscious of that, she still has people-pleaser in her. As a voice actress, she made her TV show debut as Donna Tubbs inThe Cleveland Show in 2009. Percy: Oh, I so relate to that. [music: Love and Happiness by Al Green]. Who is Kandi on Two and a Half Men? The team behind This Movie Changed Me is: Gautam Srikishan, Chris Heagle, Eddie Gonzalez, Lilian Vo, Christiane Wartell, Tony Liu, and Kristin Lin. Gabrielle Union and Sanaa Lathan Reunite 15 Years After Love What would be the perfect song to cue up for freedom? It was her baby and it was her first time directing. She obtained abachelorsdegreeinEnglish from theUniversity of California, Berkeley. She is primarily famous for being married to a professional baseball player, Justin Turner. I was living in Cambridge, in my first year at Harvard Law School, but I did not want to be a lawyer. Sanaa Lathan Says Filming Love And Basketball Was Miserable It took dismissing the pressures from everyone else and standing strong in herself. And it not only has to do with work or even her relationship in general, but I think its relevant to every part of our humanity, what we believe and what we value. Tamani: I think its such an important message, maybe the ultimate message, even, is to do you, be you; to fight for what you love even when its hard, even when you have to stand alone in yourself. Not easy but possible.. And I feel like most of my adult life has been reminding myself not to be afraid. I cant my future cannot be here. Thats how I felt. Through my novels, I hope to pass on the same message that Love & Basketball gifted me with 20 years ago: feel free to be yourself and create the life you want. And every time I watch the film I watched it last week just to get ready again for this interview. Sanaa attended Beverly Hills High School for her basic education before joining Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics. It took me there. And its one of the reasons why, no matter what the dialogue is, she just brings such depth to it. For the record, while she initially wasnt crazy about Gina while shootingLove and Basketball, she considers her like family now and is grateful to have been a part of her classic film. The "Love and Basketball" star. No, Im gonna be in the NBA. Actress and comedian, Hall is the first lady partner of Lathan. And I was like, I cant live like this. All of which is to say its time to revisit Love & Basketball, Prince-Bythewoods debut feature and first screen triumph. And I had to try on many things. And along the way, the things that I tried on, I still incorporate them in my life. Lathan has bagged accolades throughout her career due to her outstanding movies and TV shows roles. Throughout the movie, its song after song. Please be sure to open and click your first newsletter so we can confirm your subscription. Through her fathers encouragement to perfect on acting on the Los Angeles stage, Sanaa bagged television roles in episodes of shows such as In the House, Family Matters, NYPD Blue, and Moesha. When [Monica] turned around and looked at Quincy and their child, I almost felt like she was reaching through the screen, asking me, So what you bout to do?. When he watches it now, he finds new lessons on parenthood in the relationship between Selena and her father, played by Edward James Olmos. Percy: And you wrote about that in your really just beautiful essay for Time magazine, called Love & Basketball Was More Than a Movie. 2023 TIME USA, LLC. And the thing that struck me is that both sets of parents we have Monicas parents, and then we have Quincys parents, so Omar Epps, who plays Quincy both parents are trying to put their own insecurities and their own fears and shame in the expectations that they set for their kids. And Id love for you to just close your eyes and think about where you were when you first saw that movie, how you were feeling, who you were with any memories that come to mind. As she has dated a lady, so she definitely is not straight in terms of her sexuality. They were like, OK, cool. Required fields are marked *. And theres a line in the movie that I feel like summarizes so much of what weve been talking about, when she says, When youre a kid, you see the life you want, and it never crosses your mind that its not gonna turn out that way. And again, I dont think anyone else delivering that line wouldve been able to give it the depth that she does; its just so much who Sanaa Lathan is. It wasnt in vain, all these different things. 92 player in the nation perRivals. They want her! She cant play! So there was a lot of crying, a lot of crying behind the scenes for me.. They include: Meena Harris: biological father, husband, children, net worth. Growing up, I was a good girl. Copyright 2023. Sometimes its hard to remove that from you, even as an adult. They would always do a basketball audition for me, which was just the worst. And I was starting to get this terrifying sense that if I stayed in law school, I could get trapped in her the rest of my life.