Nia Long

Nia Talita Long, born October 30, 1970, is an American actress best known for her work in black cinema. She rose to prominence after starring as Brandi in the 1991 drama film Boyz n the Hood. She gained further national recognition for her television portrayal of Beullah "Lisa" Wilkes, the girlfriend and fiancée of Will Smith's character, on the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air from 1994 to 1995.

Long was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Talita Long, a teacher and printmaker of Trinidadian descent, and Doughtry Long, a high school teacher and poet. She has an older half-sister, the actress and comedian Sommore. Following her parents' divorce when she was two years old, Long moved with her mother to Iowa City and later settled in South Los Angeles when she was seven. She attended Paseo Del Rey Elementary School, St. Mary's Academy, and Westchester High School, graduating in 1989. During her youth, she studied ballet, tap, jazz, gymnastics, guitar, and acting under coach Betty Bridges.

Long began her acting career with a role in the Disney television film The B.R.A.T. Patrol. From 1991 to 1994, she played Kathryn "Kat" Speakes on the soap opera Guiding Light. Early in her career, she also made guest appearances on sitcoms such as Living Single and played the character Claudia in a second-season episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air prior to landing her recurring role as Lisa Wilkes.

Throughout the late 1990s and 2000s, Long appeared in a succession of notable films, including Friday, Love Jones, Soul Food, Boiler Room, Big Momma's House, and Are We There Yet?. She starred as Jordan Armstrong in the 1999 romantic comedy-drama The Best Man, later reprising her role in the sequels The Best Man Holiday in 2013 and the Peacock miniseries The Best Man: The Final Chapters in 2022. She also auditioned for the 2000 film Charlie's Angels, though she was not cast.

On television, Long played NYPD officer Sasha Monroe on the crime drama Third Watch from 2003 to 2005. Her subsequent television credits include roles on Everwood, Boston Legal, Big Shots, Empire, and the CBS action series NCIS: Los Angeles from 2017 to 2018. Outside of narrative acting, she directed Yolanda Adams's music video for "This Too Shall Pass," co-directed and appeared in Ashanti's video for "Baby," and made a cameo in Kanye West's "Touch the Sky" video.

Long starred in the 2020 Netflix psychological thriller Fatal Affair and was cast as Katherine Jackson in the Michael Jackson biopic Michael. Over the course of her career, she has received two NAACP Image Awards and a Black Reel Award, including a 2004 NAACP Image Award for her performance on Third Watch. In her personal life, Long has two sons, born in 2000 and 2011, and she works as a motivational speaker for the Sterling Children's Home in Barbados.