There are many things that I admire about Sanaa McCoy Lathan. Of course one of them is that she is so naturally beautiful. And this being Hottie Friday, I should probably be focusing most of my attention on that fact.
However, allow me to depart from pouring over her hotness, at least for a little while. One of the things I admire most about Sanaa Lathan is the progress she has made from the start of her career to the present.
If you take a look at the body of work she has been involved it, the list is not an extensively long one. In fact, for the acclaim that she had earned, it would be fear to say that it is a short list. So in essence, Sanaa Lathan has built up quite a successful career for herself with only so many movies to her credit. I admire this tremendously.
Whereas other actors have had to be involved in so many television shows/movies and films, Sanaa makes it seem somewhat effortless to attain the acclaim that she has built up. To add to this, she has had but 6 award wins with an additional 13 nominations. Not many right? I agree. But how well known and respected is she despite this all? Extremely. And that is the true measure of the point I'm trying to get across. Sanaa puts out quality over quantity.
Allow me once more to add even more. Sanaa Lathan is not one to be consistently turning out movies, yet when she is absent from the business it is known. And when she returns, it's as if she never left. One might expect some inconsistency here and there because she has been gone, but this cannot be said of Lathan.
Of course, this is all a matter of opinion. I do not in the least expect that everyone or even a lot of people feel the same way. And since we may not agree on these things, can we at least agree that Lathan is one hot African-American woman? Huh? Of course, we won't all agree on this, but I am confident that more would probably agree with me on this than what I have previously stated about her career.
Her 6 wins include 1 BET Award: Best Actress - Love & Basketball, 2 Black Reel Awards for Best Actress: Out of Time (2004) and Best Actress - Love & Basketball (2001), 1 Image Award: Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture - Love & Basketball (2001), 1 Theatre World Award: A Raisin in the Sun (2004) and 1 American Black Film Festival Award: Best Performance by an Actress - Out of Time (2004).
Some of her best known films are Love & Basketball, Alien vs. Predator - her most successful film to date, Something New, The Best Man, Brown Sugar, Blade, Disappearing Acts, Out of Time and The Family That Preys. She co-starred with Wesley Snipes in Blade and Disappearing Acts which happen to be two of my favorite movies. Her role with Denzel Washington in Out of Time is another which ranks very high on my list of favorite performances. Essence magazine honored her with an award for Best Actress for her performance in this film.
She currently has two movies pending - Wonderful World (post-production) and The Middle of Nowhere (in production). The first is a drama/romance which will cast her with Matthew Broderick and Ally Walker. The second is a drama with Ruby Dee, Idris Elba and fellow A Raisin in the Sun co-star (not to mention one of my favorite actresses of all time) Phylicia Rashād. Lathan will also be making her debut as a producer with this film.
I like the way Lathan is built. She's got curves in all the right places. And she exudes a cool confidence that I truly admire in a woman. I like that neither her career nor personal life is riddled with hype and drama. I like that not only other African-American women can look up to her. I like what she does and how she does it. Sanaa Lathan can come knocking on my door any day, any time any hour and you can bet your ass that I'll drop everything for her.
Here's wishing a splendid weekend to all.
