The Best Man Holiday

Taye Diggs (Actor) .. Harper

Sanaa Lathan (Actor) .. Robyn

Born: September 19, 1971 in New York

Best Known For: A string of movie and stage roles.

Early-life: Sanaa McCoy Lathan was born in New York on September 19, 1971 to actress and dancer Eleanor McCoy and TV producer/director Stan Lathan. She has a brother, Tendaji. Sanaa went on to graduate from the University of California, Berkeley, with a degree in English. She also graduated from Yale University with a degree in drama. At Yale, she performed in a number of Shakespeare plays. Her early TV credits include roles in Family Matters, In the House, NYPD Blue and Moesha.

Career: Lathan played Wesley Snipes' mother in Blade (1998) and followed this up with roles in Life (1999), The Wood (1999), The Best Man (1999) and Love & Basketball (2000). In 2000, she starred alongside Teri Garr and Julianna Margulies in an Off-Broadway production of The Vagina Monologues. A year later, she starred in the comedy film Catfish in Black Bean Sauce (2001). Her other film credits include Brown Sugar (2002), AVP: Alien vs Predator (2004), Contagion (2011) and The Best Man Holiday (2013). On TV, she has had recurring roles in Nip/Tuck, and Boss. On The Cleveland Show, she voiced Donna Tubbs. She was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance in A Raisin in the Sun.

Quote: 'Being strong can be also feminine. I don't think feminine equals being weak. Being strong is very sexy.'

Trivia: Lathan's christian name is Swahili for 'work of art'.

Morris Chestnut (Actor) .. Lance

Terrence Howard (Actor) .. Quentin

Born: March 11, 1969 in Chicago

Best Known For: Hustle & Flow and Iron Man.

Early-life: Terrence Dashon Howard was born in Chicago on March 11, 1969 to Anita and Tyrone. He was raised in Cleveland. At the age of 18, Terrence moved to New York to pursue an acting career. He made his acting debut in 1992 TV miniseries The Jacksons: An American Dream.

Career: Howard made his film debut in Mr Holland's Opus (1995) and in the late 1990s, he starred in two seasons of the sitcom Sparks. Since then, he has been involved in a number of TV shows and movies. His TV credits include NYPD Blue, Street Time, Law & Order: LA, Wayward Pines, and Empire. He has starred on the big screen in Big Momma's House (2000), Hart's War (2002), Biker Boys (2003), Ray (2004) and Crash (2004). He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Hustle & Flow (2005). His biggest film to date is Iron Man (2008). More recently, he has starred in Winnie (2011), Lee Daniels' The Butler (2013), The Best Man Holiday (2013) and Lullaby (2014).

Quote: 'I always wanted to be rich and famous, but it was for all of the wrong reasons.'

Trivia: In 2008, he made his Broadway debut in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

Regina Hall (Actor) .. Candace

Nia Long (Actor) .. Jordan

Born: October 30, 1970 in Brooklyn, New York

Best Known For: A string of films.

Early-life: Nitara Carlynn Long was born in Brooklyn, New York, on October 30, 1970 to Talita and Doughtry. She is of Trinidadian descent. After her parents divorced when she was two, she lived with her mother in Iowa City and later in Los Angeles. Her interest in acting began when she was still in school and she went on to receive acting lessons from Betty Bridges, the mother of Diff'rent Strokes star Todd Bridges.

Career: Long's first role was in the Disney TV movie The B.R.A.T. Patrol. Her first break came in 1991 when she was cast as Kat Speakes on the soap opera Guiding Light, a role she played for three years. She made her movie debut in Boyz n the Hood (1991). Since then she has had recurring roles on the small screen in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Third Watch, Boston Legal and Big Shots. Her film credits also include Made in America (1993), Friday (1995), The Best Man (1999), Big Momma's House (2000) and its 2006 sequel, Alfie (2004), Are We There Yet? (2005) and its sequel Are We Done Yet? (2007) and The Best Man Holiday (2013). In 2012, she had a recurring role in TV comedy drama House of Lies.

Quote: 'We're all in the service business. If you hire me to do a job I expect everybody else to be where I am. A little bit of crazy is good. It keeps things - balanced.'

Trivia: In 2014, Long was named the spokesperson of Elizabeth Taylor's White Diamonds perfume.

Harold Perrineau (Actor) .. Julian

Born: August 07, 1963 in New York

Best Known For: Playing single dad Michael in Lost.

Early-life: Born Harold Williams on August 7, 1963, in New York. His parents never married and Harold took his mother's surname as his own when launching his career to avoid confusion with another actor. After growing up in Brooklyn, he studied music and theatre at the Shenandoah Conservatory and originally looked set to specialise as a dancer, training with the renowned Alvin Ailey Company for 18 months. However, his interest in acting led to roles in touring shows and the off-Broadway revival of Godspell.

Career: Perrineau made his screen debut as a dancer in the hit TV series Fame in the 1980s, landing guest roles in other programmes and films, including The Cosby Show and King of New York, while also pursuing a theatre career. Despite numerous screen performances, it wasn't until 1996 he grabbed the public's attention, delivering a memorable turn as Mercutio in Baz Luhrmann's contemporary version of Romeo + Juliet. He won critical acclaim for turns in Woman on Top and Oz before joing the Wachowski Brothers' Matrix cast for Reloaded and Revolutions. His fame has increased thanks to cult US drama series Lost.

Quote: About playing cross-dressing Monica in Woman on Top: 'You look in the mirror and say 'I look pretty, I feel really pretty'.'

Trivia: He voices the main character in Marvel Anime: Blade.

Monica Calhoun (Actor) .. Mia

Malcolm D Lee (Director)

11:55 pm - 01:50 am, Sunday, March 8 on BBC Two England (2)

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