Omar Epps Says Love & Basketball Was 'Empowering for Women'
EntertainmentConfirmed: Love & Basketball is one of the most iconic movies ever made. To celebrate its 15th anniversary, Essence interviewed its two stars Sanaa Lathan and Omar Epps about the film’s impact on my life.
I’m still waiting on the BET documentary that director Gina Prince-Bythewood mentioned during our interview for Beyond the Lights. In the meantime, Lathan and Epps shared some cool facts about their experience filming.
For one, Gina initially wanted a real-life basketball player for the role of Monica Wright (somehow I already knew this). Lathan says:
“…It was like Gina really resisted hiring me [laughs] and so they found every basketball player from all over the world to come in. The process drew out for months and finally they got me a coach from the L.A. Sparks just to see if I would improve. Then finally she gave me the part. I was just kind of emotionally drained by that time. I guess it worked for the character because she always had to prove herself.”
Lathan adds: