Nia Long Reveals The One Character She Most Identified With In Her Movies
The actress opened up about why 'Love Jones' meant so much to her.
In March, Love Jones celebrated its 20th anniversary as a beloved romance film with a completely Black cast.
The cult classic — starring Nia Long, Lorenz Tate, Isiah Washington, Lisa Nicole Carson and Bill Bellamy — was centered around a love story based in Chicago’s spoken word scene.
On Tuesday, during the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ “In the Mood for Love Jones – The Academy Celebrates the Film’s 20th Anniversary” event (moderated by Moonlight director Barry Jenkins) the film’s creative team talked about the legacy of the movie.
“For me, I read this script and thought, ‘Wow, this is amazing,'” Long said about first being approached about the film.
“I’m from Brooklyn. My father’s a poet. My mother’s a fine artist. So this world was very familiar to me and when I’ve looked back on all the women that I’ve played, in this beautiful career with these wonderful opportunities, Nina is probably the most like myself,” she revealed about her Love Jones character.
“I couldn’t sit through the movie, I was going to cry. It touches me in such a deep way.”
But despite Long’s love of the film, she is sadden that in the 20 years since it hit theaters, there aren’t more Black love stories being shown in this way.
“The only disappointment I have is that we have not seen a film like this since,” she said.
While some would argue Charles Murray’s Things Never Said or Gina Prince-Bythewood’s Beyond the Lights were worthy contenders, we can all agree that there can never be enough narratives of Black love.