Sanaa Lathan

Personal context

Summary

Sanaa Lathan is an actor, producer, and director known for Love & Basketball, The Best Man, Something New, and Succession; she made her feature directorial debut with On the Come Up. Her work includes recurring stories about black women, interracial relationships, and women finding their voice. In interviews, she has said representation affects self-esteem and self-worth and spoken about wanting to see black women reflected on screen; she described On the Come Up’s lead as a young black girl coming into her own through her authentic voice. Since 2014, she has served as a Global Ambassador for International Medical Corps and publicly advocated for its humanitarian work. No public partisan campaigning or advocacy affiliations focused on racial justice, DEI, or LGBTQ causes are on record.