Given her stunning looks, it's fitting that Lathan's first name means "work of art" in Swahili. Happily, this bombshell's talent is equal to her aesthetic appeal. The daughter of a Broadway hoofer and veteran TV director Stan Lathan, this "work of art" was inevitably artistically inclined, studying dance and acting as a child. After graduating from the Yale School of Drama, she guested on a number of TV shows, eventually winning a series-regular spot in 1998 on the short-lived
Nightline spoof
Lateline. That same year, Lathan made much more of an impression with a small but memorably oedipal part as Wesley Snipes' mama in the vampire flick
Blade. A string of successively larger roles in African-American-oriented movies upped her profile, two of them —
The Wood and 2000's
Love & Basketball — opposite her then real-life boyfriend, Omar Epps. In the latter, she and Epps were perfectly matched physically, as both lovers and competitive athletes, and Lathan won a number of awards (Image, Black Reel and BET) for her multifaceted performance. But it was her turn as a butt-kicking beauty in the wildly successful but low-rent 2004 thriller
Alien vs. Predator that made her a familiar face to the masses, even if the flick showed off her body more than her brains. (A Tony-nominated turn in the Broadway revival of
Raisin in the Sun that same year proved she could still deliver a thoughtful performance.) In 2006, she signed on to the sexy series
Nip/Tuck as the mysterious boss of two morally challenged plastic surgeons.
Sanaa Lathan Fast Facts:
- Her father, Stan Lathan, directed many TV series including Sanford and Son, Barney Miller and Hill Street Blues.
- Began acting career with guest roles on TV shows such as Family Matters, NYPD Blue and In the House.
- Gained 20 lbs. for her role in the 2000 TV-movie Disappearing Acts, opposite Wesley Snipes.
- Sanaa Lathan Relationships:
- Ariel Lathan - Half Sister
- Colette Lathan - Half Sister
- Eleanor McCoy - Mother
- Liliane Lathan - Half Sister
- Omar Epps - Ex-significant Other
- Stan Lathan - Father
- Tendaji - Stepbrother
- Sanaa Lathan Awards:
- 2004 Tony: Actress (Featured Role--Play) - Nominee
- College:
- University of California, Berkeley, CA (BA in English); Yale University, School of Drama, New Haven, CT (MFA)
