‘Big Momma’s’ Busy Sidekick

Nia Long is here. Nia Long is there. Nia Long is everywhere. Recently named one of People magazine’s 50 most beautiful people, the 29-year-old actress has appeared in several films this year, including “Boiler Room,” HBO’s “If These Walls Could Talk 2” and “‘Held Up” with Jamie Foxx.

In her newest film, the Martin Lawrence comedy “Big Momma’s House,” which opens Friday, Long plays Sherry, the former flame of a bank robber (Terrence Howard) who escapes from prison. Going on the lam to avoid him, she and her son decide to hide out at the home of her grandmother, Big Momma, but little does Sherry know that her Granny is really an FBI agent (Lawrence) in disguise.

Long, who recently received an NAACP Image Award for best actress for “The Best Man,” began acting as a teenager on “The Guiding Light” and appeared opposite Will Smith on “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.” Her first big movie role was as Cuba Gooding Jr.’s girlfriend in “Boyz N the Hood.” She’s also appeared in the films “Love Jones,” “In Too Deep,” “Made in America” and “Friday.”

Question: It must be great fun to work with guys like Martin Lawrence and Jamie Foxx.

Answer: What is so nice about it is the thing about making a movie is there are always those times when it gets kind of intense. You know, we are rushing for time, we are trying not to go over, it’s “Nia, hurry up we need you now, now, now” after you have waited for 10 hours. And they always find a way to make those moments fun. I remember when I was doing “‘Held Up” with Jamie Foxx, the catering was god-awful to the point where Jamie was, like, “Just bring me some eggs and a microwave and some cheese and some bread.” Every day he would make scrambled eggs with cheese and bread. I am not a big egg person, but when you are in the middle of nowhere, those eggs with that cheese were mighty good.

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Q: Wasn’t it hard to keep a straight face when you saw Lawrence dressed as Big Momma?

A: I just wanted to touch him. I was just amazed by the fact that it was him under there. And then he would get animated in all of his gear doing dances or talking like a man and acting like a man, but [when Lawrence was] dressed as a woman, I was peeing in my pants, like, every day and I would have to say, “Martin, you have to stop. You have to stop. I have to be serious right now.”

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Q: You have done both comedy and drama. Do you have a preference?

A: It’s funny. When I was fresh out of high school and I was doing more drama because I was on the soap and I was a teenager, I was confused about a lot of things personally. Drama was really easy to do because when you are young like that, you don’t really know who you are yet, so it’s easy to cry and to sort of get into that space of darkness. [Now] I find it much more difficult to get into the space of drama. I think when you are acting, a lot of it is very personal, because you are you no matter what character you are playing. That’s why I like being on location making a movie because when you go home and you are dealing with your regular life and you are happy in your regular life and you have to go to work and play this freaked-out person, it makes it harder.

On this one, I just came to work. I came to work and spent a lot of time just hanging out. I didn’t have to do any deep research. I think Martin and I have good chemistry.

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Q: Had you met Lawrence before?

A: I met him a long time ago. It’s funny because I am going to be 30 this year and I am so excited about it because I feel like, “Oh my God, I have completed so many things and I’m still so young.” It’s a great thing.

But you have seen all the people you have worked with come up over the years, and you are like, Wow, we are all a part of this crusade, a part of this group of up-and-coming actors who are actually being blessed enough to work right now. It makes me feel good that I have become part of a really talented group of actors who have all succeeded like Angela Bassett, Laurence Fishburne and Cuba Gooding Jr.

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Q: It must be fun to be named one of the 50 most beautiful people this year.

A: I have been working at [acting] for a really, really long time and I don’ get caught up in the hype.

I have a funny story for you. I am four months pregnant. I have been having a lot of morning sickness. To make a long story short, I go to the Farmers Market to try to get out, and my fiance and I are walking around and I have this bandanna tied on my head and have on a pair of shorts [because nothing else fits] and we were looking at cherries, and I said, “Gosh, these are overpriced.” This woman turns to her husband and goes, “I think that’s one of the 50 most beautiful people, but she looks totally different in person.” I just had to laugh to myself. Hollywood is such a glamour vehicle, and when you are put in front of the public as one of the 50 most beautiful people, the public has these high expectations that you are beautiful all day. That is not who I am. I am really a simple girl.