Sanaa Lathan

Sanaa McCoy Lathan is an American actress and director. Born to an actress mother and a film director father, she began her career on stage and screen before establishing herself in prominent film, television, and voice roles. She is widely known for her performances in feature films such as Blade, Love & Basketball, The Best Man, and Alien vs. Predator, as well as her work in theatre and television.

Lathan was born on September 19, 1971, in New York City and is of African American heritage. Her mother, Eleanor McCoy, was an actress and dancer, and her father, Stan Lathan, worked as a film director. Growing up as a latchkey kid, Lathan spent time with relatives who abused drugs before later building a solid relationship with her parents. She earned a bachelor's degree in English from the University of California, Berkeley, and a master's degree in drama from Yale University.

After studying under Earle R. Gister and acting in Shakespeare plays at Yale, Lathan performed on stage off-Broadway and in Los Angeles. Encouraged by her father to make Los Angeles her base, she secured early television guest roles on In the House, Family Matters, NYPD Blue, and Moesha. Her film recognition increased in 1998 when she played the title character's mother in Blade. In 1999, she appeared in Life, The Wood, and The Best Man, earning an NAACP Image Award nomination for the latter.

In 2000, Lathan gained further acclaim starring in Love & Basketball, winning an NAACP Image Award and a BET Award while receiving an Independent Spirit Award nomination. That year, she also appeared off-Broadway in The Vagina Monologues. Her subsequent projects included Catfish in Black Bean Sauce, the HBO film Disappearing Acts—for which she won an Essence Award—and the romantic comedy Brown Sugar. In 2003, she co-starred opposite Denzel Washington in Out of Time.

Lathan performed on Broadway in 2004 as Beneatha Younger in A Raisin in the Sun, receiving a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Play. That same year, she starred as Alexa "Lex" Woods in Alien vs. Predator. She later appeared in Something New, the television series Nip/Tuck, Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys, and Wonderful World. In 2010, she starred in a West End production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in London.

Beginning in 2009, Lathan voiced Donna Tubbs on The Cleveland Show, later continuing the role on Family Guy. She also voiced Catwoman on Harley Quinn. Her film and television credits in the following decade included Contagion, Repentance, The Best Man Holiday, The Perfect Guy, Now You See Me 2, Shots Fired, The Affair, and Nappily Ever After.

In 2021, Lathan played lawyer Lisa Arthur in the third season of Succession, earning a 2022 Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series. She also made her directorial debut with the film adaptation of On the Come Up, which premiered at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival.