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Sanaa Lathan recently revealed that she almost quit acting because of the auditioning process of her classic film ‘Love and Basketball’.
She said, “I really learned a big life lesson when I was actually auditioning for ‘Love and Basketball’. It was a situation where Gina [Prince-Bythewood], the director, did not want an actress who could play basketball. She wanted a basketball player who could act the role. And I soon found out and soon realized that she really wasn’t wanting to hire me.”
Sanaa said that she constantly heard whispers from everywhere during that time to ‘quit’.
She said, “Several people in my life, including some of my representation, said, ‘Just drop out.'”
Sanaa claimed that it was one person who changed her outlook on the audition process.
She said, “It was really hard to keep kind of investing and trying to prove myself and keep kind of being shot down. And I was on the verge of dropping out of the audition process. And I had a mentor, a female mentor, a Black woman who really helped me back then with my kind of transition as an actress into the business. And she said to me, she was like, ‘do you love acting?’ and I said, ‘Yes.’ And she’s like, ‘Are you having fun learning basketball?’ And I thought about it and was like, ‘Yeah.’ She was like, ‘Are you getting a good workout when you’re playing basketball.’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ She was like, ‘Then just do it for that.’ Stop worrying about getting the job. Get into your joy. As soon as I switched to that energy and started having fun in the process, I got the job.”
Who is the biggest motivator in your life? How helps drive you in your goals or career?