Biography
Sanaa McCoy Lathan (/səˈnɑ/ born September 19, 1971) is an American stage, film, television, and voice actress. She is the daughter of actress Eleanor McCoy and film director Stan Lathan. She earned bachelor's degree in English from University of California, Berkeley, and a master's degree in drama from Yale. She is best known for her roles as Robyn in The Best Man films and subsequent TV miniseries on Peacock, Naomi Hicks on Netflix's Hit & Run, Violet Jones in Nappily Ever After, Ashe Akino o...
Known For
Complete Filmography

The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat
2024
as Barbara Jean Maxberry
Three lifelong best friends known as “The Supremes” share the unbreakable bonds of sisterhood from decades of weathering life’s storms. Through the jo...

Young. Wild. Free.
2023
as Janice Huffman
High school senior Brandon is drowning in responsibilities when his world is turned upside down after being robbed at gunpoint by the girl of his drea...

Young. Wild. Free.
2023
Executive Producer
High school senior Brandon is drowning in responsibilities when his world is turned upside down after being robbed at gunpoint by the girl of his drea...

On the Come Up
2022
as Jay
Sixteen-year-old Brianna Jackson is a gifted rapper who plans to take the battle rap scene by storm to lift up her family and do right by the legacy o...

On the Come Up
2022
Director
Sixteen-year-old Brianna Jackson is a gifted rapper who plans to take the battle rap scene by storm to lift up her family and do right by the legacy o...

With/In Volume 2
2022
An anthology film that centres around relationships, love and family. A man misses his flight and instead finds love in quarantine, a lonely therapist...

With/In Volume 2
2022
Director
An anthology film that centres around relationships, love and family. A man misses his flight and instead finds love in quarantine, a lonely therapist...

With/In Volume 1
2021
as (segment "Leap")
Giving creatives the chance to step outside the box while being confined to their own homes, the filmmakers behind With/In range from seasoned directo...

With/In Volume 1
2021
Director
Giving creatives the chance to step outside the box while being confined to their own homes, the filmmakers behind With/In range from seasoned directo...

Native Son
2019
as Trudy Thomas
A young black man named Bigger Thomas takes a job working for a highly influential Chicago family, a decision that will change the course of his life ...

Nappily Ever After
2018
as Violet Jones
After an accident at the hair salon, Violet realizes she's not living life to the fullest. A soulful barber helps her put the pieces back together.

Nappily Ever After
2018
Producer
After an accident at the hair salon, Violet realizes she's not living life to the fullest. A soulful barber helps her put the pieces back together.

American Assassin
2017
as Irene Kennedy
Following the murder of his fiancée, Mitch Rapp trains under the instruction of Cold War veteran Stan Hurley. The pair then is enlisted to investigate...

Approaching the Unknown
2016
as Captain Emily Maddox
Captain William Stanaforth is on a one-way solo mission to take the first steps in colonising Mars. Like all pioneers throughout history, Stanaforth w...

Now You See Me 2
2016
as Deputy Director Natalie Austin
One year after outwitting the FBI and winning the public’s adulation with their mind-bending spectacles, the Four Horsemen resurface only to find them...

The Perfect Guy
2015
as Leah Vaughn
With a fulfilling career and a loving relationship, lobbyist Leah Vaughn seems to have it all. Things come crashing down when Dave, her long-term boyf...

The Perfect Guy
2015
Executive Producer
With a fulfilling career and a loving relationship, lobbyist Leah Vaughn seems to have it all. Things come crashing down when Dave, her long-term boyf...

Repentance
2014
as Maggie
An earnest life-coach/author, Thomas Carter, is mysteriously abducted by a deranged client, Angel Sanchez, who delves into Thomas' teachings and uses ...

The Best Man Holiday
2013
as Robyn
When college friends reunite after 15 years over the Christmas holidays, they discover just how easy it is for long-forgotten rivalries and romances t...

Contagion
2011
as Aubrey Cheever
As an epidemic of a lethal airborne virus - that kills within days - rapidly grows, the worldwide medical community races to find a cure and control t...

Powder Blue
2009
as Diana
On the gritty streets of LA, the destinies of four people desperate for connection and redemption are about to collide.

Wonderful World
2009
as Khadi
Ben Singer is a failed children's folk singer, a career proofreader, a less-than-extraordinary weekend dad, and perhaps the most negative man alive. F...

Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys
2008
as Andrea
Wealthy socialite Charlotte Cartwright and her dear friend Alice Pratt, a working class woman of high ideals, have enjoyed a lasting friendship throug...

A Raisin in the Sun
2008
as Beneatha Younger
Dreams can make a life worth living, but they can also be dashed by bad decisions. This is the crossroads whare the Younger family find themselves whe...

Something New
2006
as Kenya McQueen
Kenya McQueen, a corporate lawyer, finds love in the most unexpected place when she agrees to go on a blind date with Brian Kelly, a sexy and free-spi...

The Golden Blaze
2005
as Monica (voice)
Two African American boys schoolyard rivalry spirals out of control when their fathers develop superpowers.

AVP: Alien vs. Predator
2004
as Alexa Woods
When scientists discover something near Antarctica that appears to be a buried Pyramid, they send a research team out to investigate. Little do they k...

Out of Time
2003
as Ann Merai Harrison
Matt Lee Whitlock, respected chief of police in small Banyan Key, Florida, must solve a vicious double homicide before he himself falls under suspicio...

Brown Sugar
2002
as Sidney 'Sid' Shaw
Sidney and Dre can attribute their lifelong friendship and the launch of their careers to one single childhood instant... witnessing the birth of hip-...

Disappearing Acts
2000
as Zora Banks
A struggling construction worker and an aspiring musician find themselves falling in love.

Love & Basketball
2000
as Monica Wright
Monica Wright and Quincy McCall grew up in the same neighborhood and have known each other since childhood. As they grow into adulthood, they fall in ...

The Best Man
1999
as Robyn
After writing a soon-to-be bestselling novel, writer and committed bachelor Harper attempts to hide the fact that his saucy new book is loosely based ...

The Wood
1999
as Alicia
In the panicky, uncertain hours before his wedding, a groom with prenuptial jitters and his two best friends reminisce about growing up together in th...

Life
1999
as Daisy
Two men in 1930s Mississippi become friends after being sentenced to life in prison together for a crime they did not commit.

Catfish in Black Bean Sauce
1999
as Nina
An African American couple (Winfield and Alice) adopt two orphans from a Vietnamese refugee camp. After 22 years, the children are reunited with their...

Blade
1998
as Vanessa
The Daywalker known as "Blade" - a half-vampire, half-mortal man - becomes the protector of humanity against an underground army of vampires.

Miracle in the Woods
1997
as Young Lilly
Quarreled sisters; Sarah and Wanda inherit property from their mother. It has always belonged to the family. Sarah insists on selling it as soon as po...

Drive
1997
as Carolyn Brody
A prototype enhanced human, on the run from Chinese-hired hit men, hooks up with a dread-locked bystander, and the two of them elude their pursuers na...
Leap
N/A
Sanaa Lathan's directorial debut. A short film created for the With/In anthology.

Playing for Your Heart: The Making of “Love & Basketball”
N/A
as Herself
Documentary on the making of the film “Love & Basketball” produced by the Criterion Collection in 2021
Leap
N/A
Director
Sanaa Lathan's directorial debut. A short film created for the With/In anthology.