Uptown
Nia Long is opening up about the role of her dreams and she responds to J. Cole’s famous lyric about her in his song, “No Role Modelz.” The 45-year-old also reveals how she balances family life with her San Antonio Spurs assistant coach fiancé Ime Udoka and her two sons.
In a new interview with Uptown, the actress says she has an unpredictable schedule, which clashes with her type-A personality.
“The disadvantage is that we don’t know how far we’re going to go in the playoffs,” Long tells the magazine. “We could be in playoffs mode for the championship, and that could last until late June. If I put my kids in camp, and we’re traveling with daddy, then I’ve just wasted a bunch of money. That keeps our life exciting and unpredictable, but it also makes me a little crazy because I am a planner.”
She adds that having a schedule for sons Kez Sunday Udoka and Massai Zhivago Dorsey II – her son with ex-boyfriend and actor Massai Z. Dorsey – allows her to make time for herself, too.
“I do like to know what everybody is doing. If you don’t know what your kids are doing, then you can’t carve out that much needed time for yourself, whether it’s just to go to the spa or to figure out what my next project is.”
When it comes to her work, Long hopes her next movie will allow her to be herself completely.
“You know, I’d love to do a yummy period piece where I could just take this weave out of my hair and just be natural and Black,” she says. “I would love to just strip down and be my most vulnerable self in a feature. I believe it’s all coming.”
Long says she is thankful that she’s still acting in Hollywood as a woman over 40, and she’s beginning to get comfortable in who she is personally and professionally.
“I think finally I’m learning what it means to be a wife, a mother, an actress, and then just being Nia, which is separate from all of that, but the core part of all of it, as well.” Long tells the publication. “Being able to create balance, and even just knowing that, is super important. And just loving who I am, even when I don’t feel that I’m being so lovable. Just accepting myself with all of my greatness and all of my flaws is half the battle for anybody at any age.”
It’s Long’s age that is at the center of a lyric J. Cole wrote about her for his 2014 single. On it, he raps, “My only regret was too young for Nia Long.” When the actress spoke to Larry King to promote her new movie “Keanu,” the veteran anchor asked her about the line.
“He’s really not too young. He just doesn’t know it,” Long told King.
