Sanaa Lathan Reveals This ‘Brown Sugar’ Scene May Have Been Improv
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Many Black music journalists’ formative film, Brown Sugar, is celebrating its 20th anniversary. As the acclaimed Hip-Hop romantic comedy ages one more year, its leading lady, Sanaa Lathan, shared some behind-the-scenes insight with ESSENCE and revealed she almost didn’t do the film.
Why? Because the movie’s initial script was deemed weak, there was a production conflict, and a Hollywood strike was looming at the time. Eventually, things fell into place, and as the universe would have it, Lathan remained on board, alongside the esteemed cast of Black Hollywood excellence.
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“It was Taye [Diggs], he was like family. Boris [Kodjoe] and Nicole Ari Parker, I had known just from being in New York, even before we started working as actors,” said the 51-year-old. “[Queen] Latifah, Mos Def. It was just such an amazing group of people and we really had that family kind of comradery.”
She also added that the classic scene where Dre (Diggs) raises a glass to his impending divorce was most likely improv.
“Taye has been revealed as such a great comedian on social media, but he was always that way,” the On The Come Up director expressed. “I think that ‘celebrating my divorce,’ definitely came from his comedic mind. You really felt him. You felt his pain and then it was funny. All humor comes from that true pain. I think we improved that.”
Although Brown Sugar is currently available to buy or rent, you can catch Sanaa Lathan, Taye Diggs, and Nicole Ari Parker in The Best Man: Final Chapters, which premieres on Peacock this December.
