Sanaa Lathan’s star power has lead to starring in some of the most popular films to date as well as gaining plenty of crossover appeal. Tyler Perry’s The Family That Preys (Lionsgate) is just another example of having the right role at the right time. The combination of today’s hottest African-American filmmaker with one of the hottest female actresses is a successful recipe. Fresh off the DVD release of Preys, Sanaa sheds some light on the film and chats with VIBE.com about upcoming projects.
VIBE.com: The Family That Preys had a pretty good reception. What do you think really appealed to the audience about the film?
Sanaa Lathan: Well I think in this particular film it had themes in it that are classic themes that everybody goes through. I mean we all know what it's like to have family sibling rivalry. We all know what it's like to deal with people who are committing adultery or deal with people who have ambition. So these are all themes that are universal in terms of the human experience and Tyler, what makes him so special is he's able to portray that in his movies in a very entertaining way. And in this movie there was a lot of scandalous stuff going on and some of that can be really fun to watch.
Besides Tyler Perry being the biggest and hottest African-American filmmaker in Hollywood right now what drew you into the script ?
Well I was asked to do a reading of the script. Tyler, I guess he likes to hear it read by real actors you know hear what he reworked, what needs to be cut and edited, etc. and I did that because I was a big admirer of his. I really liked what he had been doing in the industry and I had so much fun working on Andrea. I had so much fun playing her in that reading and they asked me soon after if I'd be willing to do the movie and I said absolutely because I thought the story was a nice departure from what he usually does and went a little deeper. And Alfre Woodard had signed on already and Kathy Bates had signed on; that just did it for me since those two are some of the divas of acting.
Your character, Andrea, didn't seem like the more humble down-to-earth character we're used to seeing you as.
You mean she seemed like the biggest bitch you ever seen in your life? [Laughs]
It's interesting because I was really kind of nervous. I was like, “oh my god my fans are really not going to like me”, “how are they going to respond?” And Tyler pushed me to be as mean as possible and I was really kind of nervous about it. And I can't tell you how much love I got. I mean I go to the grocery store: "girl I hated you in that movie! I hated you! But I loved it."
Do you feel that racially blended casts such as this one are successful at reaching broader audiences?
Well look at the box office, I think so. The thing is I think it'll be interesting that all black films from what I've learned they wind up crossing over, that's why they keep making them. Love & Basketball (New Line), Brown Sugar (Fox), Something New (Focus) are huge, huge sellers. And these are quote, unquote “black movies” that white people are watching in their homes. I have people come up to me all the time so I think as long as the themes are universal. These two families in The Family That Preys could have been green and yellow; the themes that were going on in this film were themes that any race deals with.
You're friends with Taraji P. Henson but what was the chemistry on set working with Alfre Woodard, Kathy Bates, Rockmond Dunbar and everyone?
We had a ball. If you didn't read the script and you came up and watched us in between sets you'd think this was the most slapstick comedy because we were more silly, goofy, funny. We had a great time shooting it and we had even more fun off the set. Me and Taraji have known each other for a long time but we really bonded on this movie. I had known Rockmond, I had known Alfre. It was really a good group of people and no drama off the set.
You've been in numerous films but what character do you think you're best known as?
I don't have that feeling with my movies. It's so weird how different movies speak to different people. Probably the one that everybody talks about the most is Love & Basketball. I get lot of Brown Sugar a lot of Something New and a lot of Alien vs. Predator (Fox) [Laughs] and there was a whole other demographic that loved me on Nip/Tuck (FX) because they're Nip/Tuck fans so it's really all over the place. That's the blessing of having a long career and being able to do different things because everybody likes something different. I feel like I just want to continue to be challenged and working with good people and pushing myself out of my comfort zone. I want to be doing this when I'm Ruby Dee's age.
The New Year just arrived so what can we expect from you in 2009?
I have two things. The Cleveland Show (Fox), which is a spin off of Family Guy that's going to be on Fox in the fall. I play the wife of Cleveland and its hysterical, it is so funny. I go in for two weeks and laugh my butt off and I can still do my movies. Then I don't know the actual name of this yet, but I’m signed on to do a series for BET where I host a showcase for short films by black film makers. I think we're signed on to do 8-13 episodes. I'm really excited to kind of give back and highlight up and coming African-American artists.
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