THIS MOMMA' DON'T TAKE NO MESS
By Janice Rhoshalle Littlejohn

Nia Long may be like a girlfriend to us, but she’s nobody’s pushover. She’s calling the shots that affect her family, career and love life.

It’s a Monday morning around 8:00, and Nia Long has already gotten up on the wrong side of the bed. Literally. “You would think I have this serious man in my life because I have the sexiest chocolate-brown silk bed sheets,” begins Long with a hint of trepidation in her husky lilt. “I roll over this morning and I’m like, ‘Okay, pee-pee on the silk? Not cute.’”

Although the crime was a major offense, the culprit, on the other hand, is adorable: her four-year-old son, Massai Dorsey, II. Massai awoke in the middle of the night and sought out the comfort of Mommy’s luxurious bed to complete his slumber—and have his little accident.
Thankfully, the housekeeper, who comes in twice a week, arrived at nine and immediately got to work, which allowed Long to bathe, eat, and ready her little man for pre-school. Somehow, she even managed to steal a few minutes to play catch-up with her girlfriend in New York (“I can never get phone time,” she laments) before the chef came over to prepare meals. It wasn’t until her mother, Talita, showed up to shuttle Massai off to pre-kindergarten that Nia could really jumpstart her day.

So when she calls to say she’s running late for lunch at The Belvedere in The Peninsula Beverly Hills hotel, and then arrives 30 minutes after that, she’s polite, but unapologetic. “I used to stress myself out being punctual, and I am punctual, but when you have a child, the rhythm of your day revolves around him, and you don’t know what will happen,” she says. “I’ve learned not to try to do everything, because I just don’t think that you can.”

It seems Long has learned a lot since she first gained our attention as a beautiful, 17-year-old ingénue with a sassy spirit and a light-up-the-world smile. At 35, she’s become a seasoned actress, a mom, and a woman in firm control of her life who is very comfortable in her own skin.
She’s in a good place now, personally, professionally, and even geographically. After spending two brutal years in New York City playing do-gooder Officer Sasha Monroe on NBC’s Third Watch, she’s happy that the series is now over and she’s back in Cali. “I felt like my spirit was being robbed—and I’m a New Yorker!” confesses the Brooklyn-born, Trinidad-descended actress. “New York is not the place to be with a four-year-old, living in the city and working 13 hours a day on a series. It’s so congested. No one ever really takes the time to breathe, and I found myself having a lot more anxiety. Now, it’s like I’ve learned to breathe easy.” Breathe easy and choose wisely—be it where she lives, the men she loves, or the work she does.

Though she got great face-time on Third Watch, it’s been a minute since we’ve seen Long do her thing on the big screen in Ice Cube’s family comedy Are We There Yet?, in Mario Van Peebles’ blaxploitation homage Baadassss!, and opposite Jude Law in the romantic comedy Alfie. But that will change in January, when she reprises her role as Sherry Pierce in the sequel to Big Momma’s House. What motivated her was the chance to reunite with her hilarious costar Martin Lawrence, as well as the opportunity to please Massai.

“The first one is my son’s favorite film,” she says, laughing. “He was about three years old, and it came on cable. That’s the first time he realized, ‘Oh my gosh! My mom’s an actress!’ At first he couldn’t conceptualize that I was on the screen, like, he wanted me to come out of the screen. But now, if I want to get work done, I just put on Big Momma’s House and he doesn’t bother me the entire time.”

Continued in Jewel Magazine Issue #1 - Subscribe Now!