Nia Long is setting the record straight – once and for all!
According to Hollywood Unlocked, in an interview with Yahoo Entertainment, Nia Long revealed that she auditioned for the lead role of Alex Munday but was denied because she “looked too sophisticated and too old” to act alongside Drew Barrymore, who’s just four years younger than her.
“Charlie’s Angels did not want me because they said I looked too sophisticated and too old next to Drew Barrymore.”
The role of the private investigator was eventually played by Lucy Liu, who is two years older than Nia.
“I thought Lucy Liu was great in that role. When I went back and looked at it, I was like, ‘Whoa, she’s really doing some stunts.’ I don’t know if I was quite ready for that.”
She added that she learned that “every opportunity isn’t for you” and that she had so much fun filming for “Big Momma’s House” with Martin Lawrence.
“…you can’t do everything, and every opportunity isn’t for you. And as much as it would’ve been fun to play that character, I think ‘Big Momma’s House’ was probably more fun for me.”
This isn’t the first time Nia has had to address the rumor regarding “Charlie’s Angels.” A while back, The Best Man: The Final Chapters actress said she didn’t believe the feedback producers gave her agent while talking to the Insider in 2020.
“I was like, ‘What?'” the Fatal Affair actress said.
“I love Drew Barrymore, I think she’s amazing, but I think that was just a nice way to say you’re a little too Black. Personally, that’s what I think. Because if you notice, there were no brown skin [actors]. I mean, honestly, I would have been the blackest thing in the film.”
“The feedback that I received from my agent was, ‘She just looked too old and sophisticated to be next to Drew Barrymore,'” she continued.
“And I’m thinking to myself, it’s an actor’s choice to walk in the room how they want to look, but it’s a director’s vision to help create and curate a character. So if you couldn’t see beyond the fact that I had on a blazer and a pair of jeans, then that was clearly not the job and opportunity for me. So, no problem, I’ll keep it moving.”
In a Vulture Interview, Thandiwe Newton revealed that she turned down the role following a series of uncomfortable meetings.
“One of the biggest movies I didn’t end up doing was because the director said to me, ‘I can’t wait for this. The first shot is going to be … You’re going to think it’s like yellow lines down a road, and you pull back, and you realize it’s the stitching, because the denim is so tight on your ass it’s going to look like tarmac,” Thandiwe, 47, said, recalling a conversation she had with director Joseph McGinty Nichol.
“I was like, ‘Oh, I don’t think we’re going to go down this road together.'”
Newton then said then-head of Sony Pictures, Amy Pascal wanted her to turn the character into more of a Black stereotype.
“She’s basically reeling off these stereotypes of how to be more convincing as a Black character,” Thandiwe said.
“Everything she said, I was like, ‘Nah, I wouldn’t do that.’ She’s like, ‘Yeah, but you’re different. You’re different.’ That was Amy Pascal. That’s not really a surprise, is it? Let’s face it: I didn’t do the movie as a result.”
Nia Long told Insider that she was aware of the comments Thandiwe made about the casting of “Charlie’s Angels” casting and is proud that more women, especially Black women, are speaking out about their experiences in Hollywood.
“I don’t want to be any part of a project where I feel like I’m the token Black.”
