After Playing An Alcoholic In Her Latest Film, Sanaa Lathan Opened Up About Her Relationship With Alcohol After Becoming Sober In 2018
Sanaa Lathan opened up about her relationship with alcohol and how it felt to play a person with an alcohol addiction in her latest project.
The Emmy-nominated actor stars in Hulu's new comedy-drama The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat, alongside Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor and Uzo Aduba, adapted from Edward Kelsey Moore's novel of the same name.
Jokingly calling themselves "The Supremes," they play a trio of longtime best friends who convene at their local Indiana diner in the 1960s to discuss life's ups and downs.
In a recent interview with People, Sanaa opened up about her character, Barbara Jean, and the intersectionality between her work and real life.
“Each character leaves me with something,” Sanaa said of her movie and TV projects. She added that there's often a “synergy there” between what's happening on-screen and in her personal life.
Barbara Jean, who is also played by Tati Gabrielle in flashbacks, is described as a "woman in pain that's self-medicating" with alcohol. Sanaa admitted that the casting "felt cathartic," explaining, “There was a period in my life where I was using alcohol as a self-medication.”
She opened up about the multiple reasons she turned to alcohol, as well as the multiple reasons she decided to stop drinking in 2018, revealing it was "dimming" her energy.
"Alcohol was not going well with me physically. Just, it was not working anymore. It affects everything, and that's part of the reason why I stopped, because even if you're going out a couple of times a week and you're drinking, it was starting to affect me throughout the week. It wouldn't be necessarily a hangover, but it definitely dimmed my energy. I didn't feel as good. It was affecting anxiety."
"You don't realize how over time it gets your brain out of balance as well, and the more I educated myself on really what it does to you...I have a mother who has never drank, and she's probably the funniest person, the happiest person, because there's this whole belief that you can only have fun with alcohol."
"I had to really reprogram that aspect because it's just all over in our culture. So, I haven't missed it. My life has definitely become more of a morning life, but I can still go out and have fun."
Sanaa credits her recent success to her sobriety. Since becoming alcohol-free, she directed and led the 2022 hit On the Come Up, she earned her first Emmy nomination in 2021 after guest-starring on Succession as Lisa Arthur, and produced and starred in the popular Netflix movie Nappily Ever After.
“I do believe that I would never have been able to direct a major studio movie if I hadn't stopped. There are things that I'm doing in my life now that I don't think that I would've been able to sustain.”
You can learn more about Sanaa in her People interview here.
And to watch her as Barbara Jean, be sure to check out The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat, which is now streaming on Hulu.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, you can call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357) and find more resources here.
