American actress Nia Long: biography and filmography

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

In 1990, the first episode of the comedy series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air with Will Smith was shown in the USA. The show tells about the youth of the famous actor and his life before gaining popularity.

For the American actress with the pseudonym Nia Long, participation in the filming of this series (in different years, Long played two roles: the character Claudia Prescott in the first season and Lisa Wilkis in 15 episodes of the fifth season) was one of the first acting jobs for which she was nominated for an award.

However, the list of roles of the actress does not end there. She has several dozen works in films and TV series.

Biography and photo of Nia Long. Early years

The future actress, whose full name (given to her at birth) is Nitara Katharina Long, was born on October 30, 1970 in New York. Her parents Talita and Daughtry are school teachers.

Nia Long alsohas an older half-sister who has also devoted her life to the film industry.

When Long was two years old, her parents divorced, and the girl stayed with her mother. They moved several times: first they lived in Iowa, then in Los Angeles. Later, Nia Long's mother planned to hold her wedding, but when the celebration was eventually canceled, she decided to stay in Los Angeles with her daughter.

It is known that the father of the actress lives in New Jersey.

At school, Nia Long, in addition to compulsory classes, also attended additional classes in ballet, gymnastics, guitar and acting.

Acting career and personal life

Miss Long's career as an actress began when she was in high school. Her first roles were as an unnamed girl on the sitcom 227 and as Darla Perkins on the Disney anthology series The Wonderful World of Color.

In 1990, a year after graduating from school, Nia Long starred in the film Buried Alive, in which she performed one of the episodic roles. Then she took part in the filming of such films as "The Guys Next Door", "Made in America", "Friday" and others.

The actress received her first major role in 1997. This character was Nina Mosley in the movie Love Jones. After that, Nia Long also starred in the films "Boiler Room", "Soul Food", "Big Momma's House".

In 2006, the actress appeared in the video of the American rapper Kanye West for the song Touch the Sky.

As for personal life, it is known that in 2010Nia Long began dating basketball player Ime Udoka. On November 7, 2011, their son was born, who was given the name Kez Sunday Udoka. The couple got engaged in 2015.

The actress also has another son named Massai Zhivago Dorsey, born November 26, 2000. His father, former partner Nia Long, Massai Dorsey.

Filmography of the actress

Friday is a 1995 comedy film directed by Felix Gary Gray. The plot covers one day in the life of Craig Jones and Smokey, two friends from Los Angeles.

This Friday they will have to meet a lot of unexpected guests: a petty thief, a constantly loitering neighbor, a pastor, a package delivery man and other personalities.

In this film, Nia Long played the role of Debbie, a young attractive neighbor of the main characters, whom Craig Jones took a liking to, despite the fact that he has a girlfriend.

In the 2000 crime comedy Big Momma's House, Long plays Sherri Pierce, a burglar's ex-girlfriend. In the story, Malcolm Turner, an FBI agent, arrives in a small town where a criminal who has escaped from prison is supposed to be. To arrest the robber, Turner has to pretend to be a woman called "Big Mom".

The actress also took part in the filming of the sequel to this picture, called "Big Momma's House-2".

Love Jones is a romantic drama directed by Theodore Witcher. Main characters: Darius Lowhall and Nina Mosley. He is a poet and musician performing innightclub. She is a talented photographer who, due to unfortunate circumstances, recently lost her job.

Their meeting takes place at the nightclub where Darius works. Nina is interested in him, and he writes a short poem for her. The story follows the development of their romantic relationship. The erotic scene with Nia Long in Love Jones has become one of the most memorable love scenes in American cinema.

Awards and prizes

The actress has four awards. She received two of them in 2000 for her role in the film The Best Man. Nia Long was awarded the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Feature Film and the Black Reel Awards for Best Actress.

In 2004 and 2005, Long again won the 2004 and 2005 NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Actress in a Television Drama for her role in 3rd Watch.