Sanaa Lathan Quotes

I have dated all races and I believe you should be free to do whatever you want.

I think I'm a character actress in a leading lady's body, but the industry doesn't really see me that way.

I don't know if it's more acceptable or if black men are more comfortable. Black men certainly are more comfortable with it. I don't know that society, like white society loves it or black women. When you see a black man with a white woman there is a feeling that you have and I think the feeling is an instinctual feeling of you want her you don't want me. I don't look anything like her, so you don't like. You know what I mean? Something like that. It's a real instinctual primal thing.

I really prefer the actual experience of being onstage and living the character from beginning to end with the energy of the audience. There's nothing that beats that feeling, and yet I really have trouble with the eight shows a week.

I didn't get to see Predator until halfway through shooting. It was great to get an education while I was shooting because it made me excited to be part of this legacy.

Everybody is different. I can think of three black men I've dated and they couldn't be more different from each other.

My dad is a director/producer and my mom is a dancer; she performed with Alvin Ailey, but I didn't even think about becoming an actress.

Some of us just have to work harder to stay in the game.

If you're in love and there's that chemistry, that's what it's all about.

I've never gotten any complaints about my headscarf from a man. You can be sexy with a head wrap!

To make a movie is very grueling at times. Long, long hours and cold weather.

I did work out every day. I needed it to have the endurance to do what needed to be done and not get hurt. I have such a new respect for action stars now.

The inspiration for this movie [Something New] was this Newsweek article that came out a couple of years ago that talks about 42.4 percent of black women in America aren't married. Black women are shooting up the corporate ladder way faster than our black male counterparts. And (black men) are either dating outside their race, in jail or dying. And so if you want to have a family, you want to be married, you have to look at other options.

People make jokes about how black people are the first ones to be killed off.

I think I'm definitely more open. You know the thing is I wouldn't have said I was closed before, but like, it's the kind of thing that you don't even think of other options. I've been dating black men for really, for like, I don't know, 10 years. You know, I haven't really dated outside of that. Now I think I'm probably am more open to the idea.

People may know me from films, but theater is my first love. I did about 35 plays before I even landed my first screen role. I'm very comfortable on stage, and theater is not something you can just wing.

Chemistry on film is like chemistry in real life, it's either there or it isn't.

When you're on a set it can be very tedious and slow. It's just not as big as when you see it on film.

The great thing about the stage is that you have a structured month-long rehearsal period where you're going in every day. You have to have lots of run-throughs with theater because there are no second takes in front of a live audience.

My characteristics [of Ideal Black Man.] aren't as specific. I'm more general. I'm more like, I have to be able to talk to him. You know, we have to have good communications. He has to be interested in the world. You know what I mean. Like interested in learning and adventurous and curious, 'cause that's what I am. He has to be passionate about something. And it would be nice if he had a job. It's not like he has to have an MBA.

You can never be happy when you're constantly comparing yourself to others. Keep your eyes ahead.

And then there was moments with white guy where like we would be in Harlem. There would be five brothers in the corner, and this is an awful feeling but you're holding his hand and you want to pull your hand away cause you don't want the judgment. And you're gonna get the judgment even if it's just in looks. And the black men are the worst when it comes to judging.

I remember after I dated this white man, nobody said anything but there was a couple of men in my family that joked after that. 'Oh yeah, we had a party when y'all broke up. Hee hee hee.' And, you know, they laughed, and it was like light and a joke. But, you know, that's real. That was real and they let me know. And, it's almost acceptable within our culture to be prejudiced toward whites because of our history. This country is loaded with racism .

I come from the theater, and I've done a lot of character work in the theater, but Hollywood stuff in film and TV, they've been more leading lady/ingenue type roles.

I had never picked up a basketball before. I went through a grueling audition process. It was almost as if I was learning to walk. It would be like teaching somebody to dance ballet for a role.

The Alien is gross, scary. There is something in a human being that looks at them and sees it as a cockroach. You can never feel nurturing towards the cockroach.

Like the guy I was dating. White, liberal, educated. I went to meet his family and I think that they probably didn't know they had a problem with it until he walked in with me. And they definitely had issues. Mom had issues with it. Could not, didn't want to see her son. And I don't think she had anything against me. But it was about her son bringing me home. And I felt that for the first time. I was like, 'Wow, that's deep.' It's really simple: I don't fit their picture.

There's a lot of Kenya that's not like me. I like Birkenstocks, granola, my dog Pops.

People are going to always have their opinions whether you date a black man or not. I've had girlfriends, family members comment on black men that I've dated as well as white people. People want to see what they want to see. And if anybody doesn't fit that picture they're going to be like, 'Yeah, I didn't see you with him.'

I love going to the movies and getting Raisinets, a big tub of popcorn and a Coke. That's definitely a guilty pleasure because I can't be doing that all the time.

I look forward to going to work. Everybody is at the top of their game. It was like we just got to play.

I'll eventually go back to theater because the feeling of being on stage where you have the audience right there, you can't replace that with anything

I got nominated for a Tony, which was a complete surprise. It was an experience that I will always cherish

Sometimes when you don't care, people are attracted to that.

If someone has already done a role I'm about to do, I won't watch the original until after I'm finished playing the role.

Kelsey Grammer is one of the best actors I've ever worked with.

You would never expect a black woman to be the hero.

I feel like people grow the most when they step outside of the box that they are used to. For me, it's constantly challenging myself to step outside of my comfort zone. As soon as you do that, then you grow, but then you get comfortable again.

Im loving the ingredients that are in Pantene, and it smells so good, and thats important to me. It has cassia and aloe vera. The cassia flower is really good for strengthening hair strands and the aloe is wonderful for moisturizing.

There is a lot of struggle in being an actor; you need so much emotional strength, no matter what level of stardom you have, that it's nice to have something steady.

When you have a play, you have to be on every night.

Being strong can be also feminine. I don't think feminine equals being weak. Being strong is very sexy.

I think Hollywood is so driven by money, the people who are making the decisions are not necessarily reflective of the melting pot, so what stories are you going to want to tell? You're going to want to tell stories about yourself.

Good storytelling appeals to me - good writing.

I've been in a couple with different races like Latino, white, Middle Eastern.

In this day and age, especially with all the media and television, social media, and the Internet, we are constantly being compared and comparing ourselves to others' lives and journeys. Keep your eyes on your own road.

I wouldn't want anyone to destroy the earth

It was a good script [Something New]. We have not seen an interracial issue dealt with from a black woman and white man's perspective in this way. And, usually, it's a black man, white woman. I loved the fact that it wasn't about the couple being against the world or the couple against the family. I loved the fact that it was her dealing with her own prejudices that came up, her own guilt, her own shame and embarrassment about what her peers thought.