Biography
Nia Long is an American actress. Born Nia Talita Long on 30 October 1970 in Brooklyn, New York City, she graduated from Westchester High School in Los Angeles in 1989 after attending the Roman Catholic St. Mary's Academy in Inglewood. She studied ballet, tap, jazz, gymnastics, guitar and acting, and trained with acting coach Betty Bridges.
Long began her career with a role in the 1986 Disney television film The B.R.A.T. Patrol and a three-year contract on the soap opera Guiding Light (1991–1994). She rose to prominence with her performance as Brandi in Boyz n the Hood (1991) and as Lisa Wilkes in the television series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1991–1995). She has appeared in films including Friday (1995), Love Jones (1997), The Best Man (1999), Big Momma's House (2000) and its sequel, and 47 Meters Down: Uncaged (2019).
More recent credits include Grace in Missing (2023) and Katherine Jackson in the biopic Michael (2026).
