Nia Long got candid during a recent appearance on Angie Martinez’s podcast In Real Life, reflecting on early guidance from castmate Laurence Fishburne on the set of Boyz n the Hood and the lasting on-screen creative partnership she’s built with Larenz Tate since Love Jones, a bond set to continue in the upcoming Don’t Ever Wonder.
Fishburne’s Direction on Boyz n the Hood Pushed Her to Go Further
Long recalled a pivotal moment from filming Boyz n the Hood, the 1991 John Singleton drama in which she played Brandi, Tre’s girlfriend, alongside Fishburne, who starred as Tre’s father, Furious Styles, describing him as a mentor figure whose feedback shaped how she approached her craft. She explained that at the time she was still relatively new to acting while he was already an established name, so she made a point of listening closely to guidance from performers of that generation.
The moment centered on a scene requiring her character to deliver devastating news after witnessing a shooting, captured in a single unbroken take. Long said her first attempt at the emotionally charged scene didn’t land with the intensity it needed. Fishburne pulled her aside, encouraging her to fully connect with the weight of what her character had just witnessed before doing the take again. “I was brave because I’m young, not afraid of him, because he was lovely to me, but just wanted to get it right,” Long recalled. She credited the success of the moment to letting go of self-consciousness and staying present in the scene rather than worrying about how she looked or how her performance would be received.
Long also touched on how her ability to receive that kind of direction was shaped by her personal history, noting that she had already experienced being a refugee twice by age 11, an early lesson, she suggested, in adapting and pushing forward regardless of circumstance.
A Longstanding Creative Partnership With Larenz Tate
The conversation also turned to Long’s ongoing collaboration with Larenz Tate, her co-star in the 1997 romance Love Jones, whom she is reuniting with for the upcoming Netflix film Don’t Ever Wonder. Long shared that during the casting process for Love Jones, a director tested screen chemistry between her and two potential leading men, Gary Dourdan and Tate, by showing footage to a group of women. The response made clear that she and Tate had a natural on-screen connection. “We hadn’t seen two brown skinned Black people in love that looked like they were from the same world,” Long said. “We looked right together.”
Long reflected on how Love Jones arrived at a moment when Black cinema was shifting away from an era dominated by grittier, street-focused films toward stories centered on love and humanity. She credited producer Helena Echegoyen, who also worked on Friday, with championing the project and getting it greenlit, even though the studio didn’t back it with significant marketing at the time. Despite underperforming financially on release, the film went on to become a cult classic.
Long said the trust between her and Tate has only deepened since then, carrying into their new project together. Don’t Ever Wonder, directed by Sylvie’s Love filmmaker Eugene Ashe and inspired by Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite album, is described by Long and Tate as a story about love, relationships, and navigating life as empty nesters, rather than a continuation of Love Jones. Long described feeling a responsibility to protect the standard she and Tate set decades ago. “You can’t be what everyone else is doing if you’re one of the originators,” she said.
A Career Measured in Connection, Not Accolades
Later in the conversation, Long reflected more broadly on what she’s most proud of in her career: longevity, relevance, and the genuine support she feels from women, particularly Black women, who see themselves reflected in her work. She said that sense of connection means more to her than any award or red-carpet recognition, describing it as a link to humanity that she considers the ultimate purpose of art.