“Best Man Holiday” stars Nia Long, Taye Diggs and Sanaa Lathan to discuss reprising their famous roles almost 15 years later. The Universal Pictures release is now playing.
http://youtu.be/nZBYFR_PrOQ
Q: Taye, 15 years ago did you realize that this would be a career-defining role for you after “How Stella Got Her Groove Back”?
Taye: No, I didn’t know…I was just glad to have a job and to be in such great company because I watched some of your films and Morris, and I was a fan of Harold and Terrence, so I was just really excited to be part of such a great ensemble.
Q: Nia, tell us a little bit about where your character is now in “The Best Man Holiday.”
Nia: Oh, let’s see. She’s achieved everything she’s ever dreamed of I think professionally, and now she’s sort of exploring the other side of her life, of love and relationships and hoping to – I think by the end of the film she wants to marry the two. It’s like “Okay, how can I have more balance in my life?”
Q: Sanaa, was it fun to play pregnant during the film?
Sanaa: No, not really. [LAUGHS] I mean, I think like most women from what I’ve heard, when nine months pregnant, it was very uncomfortable and this belly they had a real prosthetic on that they built for me and it was heavy, it was hot. Every time I had to go to the bathroom it was a whole thing.
Nia: She would hold her pee for hours.
Sanaa: I got punched in the stomach on a daily basis. There was a sadistic nature to my cast mates. I mean, they just thought it was just so funny.
Taye: It was.
Q: You also play a chef, do you have a signature dish that you like to cook?
Sanaa: I don’t have a signature dish, but I do cook. I always cook when I’m dating somebody. I don’t really cook for myself, but I definitely have discovered that I’m very nurturing in that way.
Q: Nia, was it fun to play up this love triangle?
Nia: It was. I wish we could have had a little bit more fun with that. I think there was a lot more room.
Taye: [LAUGHS] I wouldn’t have minded it.
Q: If you could write a biography about anyone in real life, who would it be and why?
Taye: Nia Long, maybe…what it would be like to just be one of her lovers.
Everyone: Ooh!
Q: And Sanaa and Taye, you two have played love interests before, and so tell me about that camaraderie that you guys have.
Sanaa: Hes’s kind of become a pretty good friend over the years. We immediately got along back in the day when we started working. And these are things that you never know if it’s like destiny or if it’s just by chance, but for whatever reason we worked together a lot.
Taye: It works and it’s just easy. It’s a relief.
Sanaa: Well yeah, it’s easy. It’s easy.
Taye: We know each other, and so it’s great off-screen and on screen.
