Sanaa Lathan Dishes on “The Best Man Holiday”
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Gregg DeGuire/WireImage(NEW YORK) — Sanaa Lathan returns to the big screen Friday as Robin in The Best Man Holiday, a sequel to the 1999 film The Best Man. Lathan tells ABC News Radio her once boho-chic character without a clear career path is now all grown up with a husband, a career on the fast track and a baby on the way.
“Robin, well in the first one, she was kind of flighty,” Lathan says. “She wanted to go into jewelry making. She was a caterer. She kind of didn’t know what her calling was going to be and 10 years later she is now a very successful chef at a well-known Harlem restaurant. She’s very passionate about that and very grounded. She’s always been in love with her husband, even before he was her husband. And she’s still the glass-half-full person to his glass-half-empty.”
Taye Diggs plays Robin’s husband, novelist Harper Stewart, who is still causing trouble with the books he writes. Lathan says it was really easy to play Diggs’ onscreen wife again because they’re genuine friends in real life.
“Chemistry is either there or it’s not. And I think the reason why we’ve kind of stayed friends throughout the years is because we really have that chemistry off screen and I think it’s palpable clearly onscreen,” the 42-year-old actress explains. “This time around…you just know each other. There’s no getting to know each other, which is actually kind of great when you’re playing a married couple.”
The married couple is also expecting their first baby. Lathan dishes that the couple previously had trouble in the baby-making department.
“You’ll see — I don’t want to give the movie away — but she’s nine months pregnant, but let’s just put it this way, it’s not the first time she’s been pregnant so they’ve gone through some troubles,” she says of Robin and Harper.
And just like in the original Best Man, Lathan’s Robin is still jealous of her husband’s college sweetheart, Jordan Armstrong, played by Nia Long.
“There’s that kind of insecurity that happens when Jordan’s around because of Jordan and Harper’s bond,” Lathan explains.
Lathan also feels the comedy-drama will provide an alternative experience to moviegoers who have seen dramatic portrayals of African-Americans onscreen this year with box office hits such as The Butler, Fruitvale Station and 12 Years a Slave.
“For me, it’s not about excluding anything that’s been there, it’s about including more; more varieties of ourselves,” Lathan clarifies.
The Best Man Holiday also stars Morris Chestnut, Monica Calhoun, Harold Perrineau, Regina Hall, Terrence Howard and Melissa De Sousa.
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