Sanaa Lathan

Sanaa McCoy Lathan (; born September 19, 1971) She reprised her role as Robyn in the Christmas-themed sequel of The Best Man, in The Best Man Holiday. In 2022, she received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series, for her work on the television series Succession.

As a voice actress, from (2009 to 2013), she voiced Donna Tubbs in The Cleveland Show and in all concurrent and subsequent Family Guy appearances, as well as Catwoman on Harley Quinn. Her other notable film credits include Out of Time (2003), Something New (2006), Wonderful World (2009), Contagion (2011), Repentance (2013), The Perfect Guy (2015), and Now You See Me 2 (2016). Lathan also made her directorial debut with the film On the Come Up in 2022.

Early life Lathan, who is of African American heritage, was born in New York City.

She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, with a bachelor's degree in English. She then attended Yale University and earned a master's degree in drama.

Career Following her training at Yale, where she studied with Earle R. Gister and performed in a number of Shakespeare plays, Lathan earned acclaim both off-Broadway and on the Los Angeles stage. Encouraged by her father to make Los Angeles her professional base, she found early television roles in episodes of such shows as In the House, Family Matters, NYPD Blue, and Moesha. The following year she appeared in Life with Martin Lawrence and Eddie Murphy and did back-to-back turns in The Best Man and The Wood. The Best Man, a comedy-drama ensemble film starring Taye Diggs, Nia Long, Harold Perrineau Jr. and Morris Chestnut, was one of the top ten highest-grossing African American films in history, and Lathan received an NAACP Image Award nomination for her performance. The Wood, another ensemble film starring Diggs and Omar Epps, cast her as Epps's love interest. Her performance earned Lathan the 2001 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture, an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Actress, and a BET Award. In 2000, she appeared in the Off-Broadway production of The Vagina Monologues with Teri Garr and Julianna Margulies.

In 2001, Lathan earned acclaim for her work in the multicultural comedy film Catfish in Black Bean Sauce. Next was her second collaboration with Prince-Bythewood, Disappearing Acts, based on a novel by Terry McMillan. In the HBO film, she played an aspiring singer/songwriter in love with a carpenter, played by her Blade co-star Wesley Snipes. For her work in the film, she earned an Essence Award for Best Actress. That year, she was named by Ebony magazine as one of its 55 Most Beautiful People and was honoured by Essence magazine and Black Entertainment Television. In 2002, Lathan starred in the romantic comedy film, Brown Sugar with Diggs, Queen Latifah and Mos Def. Lathan's performance earned an NAACP Image Award Nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture. The film also received an NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Motion Picture. In 2003 she co-starred with Denzel Washington in Out of Time.

In 2004, Lathan starred on Broadway in A Raisin in the Sun with Sean Combs, Audra McDonald, and Phylicia Rashad, and received a Tony Award nomination for Best Performance by a Featured Actress for her portrayal of Beneatha Younger. She reprised the role in ABC Network's 2008 film adaptation.

The same year, she was given the lead role in Alien vs. Predator. It was a major success, grossing over $171 million worldwide.

In 2006, she co-starred with Simon Baker in the romantic comedy Something New, and as Michelle Landau, the much younger wife of a Texas businessman (Larry Hagman) in the fourth season of the television series Nip/Tuck. She played Andrea in Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys, also starring Alfre Woodard and Kathy Bates, released in the U.S. on September 12, 2008.

In 2009, Lathan co-starred with Matthew Broderick in the drama Wonderful World. From 2009, she voiced the character Donna Tubbs on The Cleveland Show, and later Family Guy, following the former's cancellation. In 2011, Lathan co-starred in the Steven Soderbergh thriller Contagion with Matt Damon, Jude Law, Marion Cotillard, Kate Winslet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Bryan Cranston, and Laurence Fishburne. In 2011, she starred with Anthony Mackie and Forest Whitaker in Repentance, a psychological thriller directed by Phillipe Caland. She played series regular Mona Fredricks in the second season of Starz' original series Boss, starring Kelsey Grammer.

In 2013, Lathan reprised her role in The Best Man′s sequel, The Best Man Holiday. In 2016, she was cast in the ensemble of the sequel of Now You See Me, entitled Now You See Me 2, which was a box-office success; and in the science fiction film Approaching the Unknown. In 2017, she returned to TV in a lead role in the series Shots Fired, and also appeared in the film American Assassin. She was then added to the main cast of The Affair, appearing in its fourth and fifth seasons, and starred in the Netflix film Nappily Ever After.

In January 2021, it was announced that she was cast in season 3 of Succession as a Lisa Arthur, a high profile, well-connected New York lawyer earning her a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series.

In 2021, Lathan directed the film adaptation of Angie Thomas's novel On the Come Up. The film premiered at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 1997 Drive Carolyn Brody 1998 Blade Vanessa Brooks 1999 Life Daisy Catfish in Black Bean Sauce Nina The Wood Alicia The Best Man Robyn 2000 Love & Basketball Monica Wright The Smoker Roxanne Short 2002 Brown Sugar Sidney "Sid" Shaw 2003 Out of Time Ann Merai Harrison 2004 Alien vs. Predator Alexa "Lex" Woods 2005 The Golden Blaze Monica (voice) Video 2006 Something New Kenya Denise McQueen 2008 The Family That Preys Andrea Evans-Bennett 2009 Wonderful World Khadi Powder Blue Diana 2011 Contagion Aubrey Cheever 2013 Repentance Maggie Carter The Best Man Holiday Robyn Stewart 2015 The Perfect Guy Leah Vaughn Also executive producer 2016 Now You See Me 2 FBI Deputy Director Natalie Austin Approaching the Unknown Emily Maddox 2017 American Assassin CIA Deputy Director Irene Kennedy 2018 Nappily Ever After Violet Jones Also producer 2019 Native Son Trudy Thomas 2021 With/In: Volume 1 Beth Segment: "Leap"; also director 2022 On The Come Up Jayda "Jay" Jackson Also director 2023 Young. Wild. Free. Janice Huffman Also executive producer 2024 The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat Barbara Jean

Television Year Title Role Notes 1996 In the House Charese Episode: "The Curse of Hill House" Moesha Ebony Episode: "A Concerted Effort" 1997 Family Matters Allison Episode: "Revenge of the Nerd" Built to Last Linda Episode: "Pilot" Miracle in the Woods Young Lilly Television film 1998 NYPD Blue Shirley Barish Episode: "You're Under a Rasta" 1998–1999 LateLine Briana Gilliam Main cast 2000 Disappearing Acts Zora Banks Television film 2006 Nip/Tuck Michelle Landau Recurring cast (season 4) 2008 A Raisin in the Sun Beneatha Younger Television film 2009–2013 The Cleveland Show Donna Tubbs (voice) Main cast 2010–present Family Guy Donna Tubbs (voice) Recurring cast (season 8–) 2011 Tilda Sasha Litt Television film 2012 Boss Mona Fredricks Main cast (season 2) 2014 Real Husbands of Hollywood Herself Episode: "Rolling with My Roomie" 2015 Punk'd Herself Episode: "Sanaa Lathan & Trey Songz" 2017 Shots Fired Ashe Akino Main cast 2018–2019 The Affair Janelle Main cast (season 4–5) 2019 The Twilight Zone Nina Harrison Episode: "Replay" 2020–2023 Harley Quinn Selina Kyle / Catwoman (voice) Recurring cast (season 2–4) 2021 Solos Nia (voice) Episode: "Sasha" Hit & Run Naomi Hicks Main cast Succession Lisa Arthur Recurring cast (season 3) 2022 The Best Man: The Final Chapters Robyn Stewart Main cast 2024 Curb Your Enthusiasm Sibby Sanders 2 episodes

Video games

Music videos Year Title Artist Role 1997 “Don’t Say” Jon B. Girlfriend 2001 “What If” Babyface Girlfriend 2014 "Imagine" Various Herself

Awards and nominations