TheBest ManCast Is 'Beyond Friends,' Says Sanaa Lathan: 'A Feeling of Family' (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

(Left-right:) Melissa De Sousa, Sanaa Lathan, Taye Diggs and Nia Long at a ‘The Best Man Holiday’ screening in 2013.Photo:Gilbert Carrasquillo/FilmMagic

Gilbert Carrasquillo/FilmMagic

Sanaa Lathantends to bond with her costars. But with the cast ofThe Best ManandThe Best Man Holiday, her friendships are on another level.

“We’ve all known each other so long,” says the actress, 52, of her costars in the 1999 hit and its 2013 sequel:Taye Diggs,Nia Long,Terrence Howard,Morris Chestnut,Harold Perrineau, Monica Calhoun, Melissa De Sousa andRegina Hall.

“I talked to Nia yesterday. I talk to Regina all the time. Taye and I just DM’ed each other,” Lathan tells PEOPLE. “We don’t hang out all the time, but there is, when we do see each other, a feeling of family. It definitely feels like beyond friends.”

Taye Diggs and Sanaa Lathan in ‘The Best Man’.Everett Collection

Everett Collection

“Who knew?” she says. “That’s a franchise where we were like, ‘Wow, we’re really doing this again?’ "

The Best Man Holidayalso reunited the cast with writer-director Malcolm D. Lee. Lathan recalls having “so much fun” on the sequel’s set, it may have been hard to stay on track. “I feel for Malcolm because we grew up with him as well. So we’re like, ‘Why do you want us to do that? Explain to me!’ We give him a hard time.”

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Regina Hall and Sanaa Lathan in ‘The Best Man Holiday’.Everett Collection

Everett Collection

To hear Lathan tell it, bonding with onscreen costars off-screen is a common practice for her. With cast membersAunjanue Ellis-Taylor,Uzo Adubaand more on the set of new movieThe Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat, “it felt like you’re going to work with family,” she says.

source: people.com