Fans of the 1999 hit movie The Best Man have long been looking forward to the sequel, The Best Man Holiday, which finally hits theaters today. One of the film's stars Nia Long, who plays sexy-smart Jordan Armstrong, stopped by Glamour HQ to talk about why the original film resonates with so many and what to expect from the much-anticipated sequel.
Tell us about the movie!
Nia: The film is basically about a group of friends that reunite after 15 years, real time. They reunite for the holidays. My character, Jordan, is a television producer. She’s now kind of running a network. Her challenge is that she’s not quite sure how to balance love and career. There’s a bunch of other characters, but Jordan is one of the characters from the original film. The movie is really about a group of friends getting together for the holiday and any and everything that could possibly happen happens. The good stuff, the bad stuff, you need tissues, there’s a lot of laughter, there’s beautiful women, sexy guys—there’s a little bit of everything. And it kind of kicks off the holiday spirit.
Nia: The film is basically about a group of friends that reunite after 15 years, real time. They reunite for the holidays. My character, Jordan, is a television producer. She’s now kind of running a network. Her challenge is that she’s not quite sure how to balance love and career. There’s a bunch of other characters, but Jordan is one of the characters from the original film. The movie is really about a group of friends getting together for the holiday and any and everything that could possibly happen happens. The good stuff, the bad stuff, you need tissues, there’s a lot of laughter, there’s beautiful women, sexy guys—there’s a little bit of everything. And it kind of kicks off the holiday spirit.
What do you think this film is going to mean to 20 year olds who may have not seen the original film,The Best Man?
Nia: Well, you know what’s interesting? I feel like the audience that knew us 14 years ago are now all the professional women who were just starting out in their careers. So it’s like, oh wow, my trajectory is good. And the women who are just starting out their careers are going to look at these characters and go, “OK, that’s where I want to go. That’s where I want to be.” Because each character has a really good profession. They're very contemporary characters. I think it‘s always great when you can go to a film and see something that you see in yourself or see in a friend, you know, something in common with the characters on film is always a great thing. And I think the younger audience is going to appreciate it just as much, and I don’t think you need to see the first one to get the second one.
Is the chemistry sort of still the same between your character and Taye Diggs’ character?
Nia: Well, it’s different now because obviously he’s married—he got proposed to in the last one. So he’s married, but I feel like there’s still those beats of, “Is he the one that got away?” You know how you have that one guy where you’re like, “Did I make the right move and the right choice?” Or maybe he’s thinking that about you? I still feel like we have that report with one another in the film, for sure.
Nia: Well, it’s different now because obviously he’s married—he got proposed to in the last one. So he’s married, but I feel like there’s still those beats of, “Is he the one that got away?” You know how you have that one guy where you’re like, “Did I make the right move and the right choice?” Or maybe he’s thinking that about you? I still feel like we have that report with one another in the film, for sure.
Have you stayed in touch with everyone over the years?
Nia: We’re all friends. It’s kind of scary. I’m flying home with Terrence Howard tonight, which I’m really looking forward to. I just have to tell the flight attendant when to stop the liquor because I could see it getting real fun up in there! We’re all really good friends, and most of us have actually worked together before. Like, Morris Chestnut and I were in Boys in the Hood together, Terrence Howard and I were in Big Momma’s Housetogether, Sanaa Lathan and Taye did Brown Sugar together, and then Melissa De Sousa and Harold Perrineau actually went to college together and danced for Alvin Ailey together. There’s a scene in the film where the guys do Air Band and perform a song from New Edition, and you can tell the real dancers from actors because the real dancers are in your face and dramatic, and the actors are like, what? They’re good, but you can see the difference! It was nice because the ladies actually got to sit back and watch the men. You know, usually it’s us, the women, who are put on display. So we got to do a little objectifying ourselves by watching the boys perform. It was good.
Nia: We’re all friends. It’s kind of scary. I’m flying home with Terrence Howard tonight, which I’m really looking forward to. I just have to tell the flight attendant when to stop the liquor because I could see it getting real fun up in there! We’re all really good friends, and most of us have actually worked together before. Like, Morris Chestnut and I were in Boys in the Hood together, Terrence Howard and I were in Big Momma’s Housetogether, Sanaa Lathan and Taye did Brown Sugar together, and then Melissa De Sousa and Harold Perrineau actually went to college together and danced for Alvin Ailey together. There’s a scene in the film where the guys do Air Band and perform a song from New Edition, and you can tell the real dancers from actors because the real dancers are in your face and dramatic, and the actors are like, what? They’re good, but you can see the difference! It was nice because the ladies actually got to sit back and watch the men. You know, usually it’s us, the women, who are put on display. So we got to do a little objectifying ourselves by watching the boys perform. It was good.
