Page 18 - Real Style March 2018

the year Of Nia
raising three kids and trying to do the best that she can, living in the Queensbridge projects. i really admire her tenacity. i know just for my own moth- er, how dif cult it was for her. for me, miss Peggy is really a hero,” she says.
Long’s mother always encouraged her to speak her mind, a quality that she says led to her acting career and her ability to tap into emotion on the screen. “my mom really raised me to be an expres- sive person—probably sometimes too much! from a very young age, she gave me the space to express my feelings,” she shares. in fact, Long’s own hol-
out all these technical terms and to make every- thing feel and seem natural. i love my character; she’s the boss and she’s in charge,” Long tells us. however, she can’t always personally relate to the authoritative, no-nonsense Shay.
“Sometimes, nia doesn’t feel like she’s in charge, just because i am sort of nding my way,” she ad- mits with a laugh. That being said, this new kid on the block ts in effortlessly with her talented NCIS co-stars, whom she describes as a “family.”
“i work with some of the most incredible people that i think i have ever worked with. i’ve known LL Cool J since i was a kid. Chris o'Donnell i’ve known since he was Robin.” [Batman For-
ever, 1995].
Long seems to create a work family wher-
ever she goes, truth to be told. When we ask her about the cast of Life in a Year, an upcoming ro- mantic drama that stars Cara Delevingne as the ailing girlfriend of Jaden Smith's character, the seasoned actress’ voice is lled with exuberance.
“i love that girl so much,” Long declares of Delevingne. meanwhile, the 19-year-old son of fellow actor and friend Will Smith is quite the mogul, and also a young man who Long consid- ers to be almost like a son.
in Life in a Year, Long plays Smith’s mother, but their close bond extends far beyond the sil- ver screen. “i turned to Will Smith at one point, and i said, ‘Wow, okay, we are really adults. i am playing your son’s mother. how crazy is that?’
i remember when Jaden was born; our kids were born around the same time. We would go to hal- loween parties, and they would be running around, chasing after each other.”
Long identi es very strongly as a mother, a rea- son that makes her Life in a Year character, Cath- erine, one of her favourites. off screen, Long has a 6-year-old son, kez, and a 17-year-old son, massai.
“i guess i can relate a lot to her [Catherine] at this point in my life, because i have a son who is an athlete and getting ready to go to college,” she says.
roXAnne roXAnne
lywood idol is TV producer Shonda Rhimes, of How To Get Away With Murder and Scandal fame. Perhaps re ecting the theme of her own life, a lineup of strong female roles has always followed the tenacious star, including her latest role as ex- ecutive assistant director Shay mosley on the CBS show NCIS: Los Angeles. Long, who has just joined NCIS for Season 15, jokingly describes herself as a
freshman on the series.
“All the actors on my show have been there for
nine years, and what they do every day is incred- ible to watch. it really is an art, to be able to spew
18 Real Style March 2018
PhOtOs, LeFt: neOn entertainMent, right: MagnOLia Pictures