Nia Long and Omar Epps are the leads of the new Netflix movie, A Fatal Affair, which has gotten some good reviews. Long, who also served as a producer on the project, recently opened up about the lack of diversity on the set. She told TheJasmienBrand.com, “In all honesty, I was disappointed that there were maybe three people on the crew that were Black, but that really is the production company’s responsibility, not the network. By the time I arrived, they were a happy family that had done several films together.”
- Long added, “This isn’t about ‘Fatal Affair,’ this is about a system. This is a systemic issue in Hollywood that has yet to be addressed in a fair way.”
- The veteran actress did share that the movie provided an opportunity for her to connect with writer, Rasheeda Garner, who was brought in to give the script a boost. Long said, “I understand and respect our director, who is a white man. He wanted to be respectful of my voice and I appreciate that. And that’s why he hired Rasheeda. So although it gave her an opportunity, I want more. I want more for her, I want more for myself, I want more for black female writers and directors in this business to not be used to fix something but to be used to tell our stories in a really authentic way.”
- Long added, “Rasheeda and I have since become friends and I think she’s a wonderful writer. The flipside of that is I hope and pray that she gets the opportunity to be in the forefront and not brought on because the lead of the film is Black . . . She should be able to write and tell stories as an African-American woman in this industry.”