Director Discusses The Time Jada Pinkett & Lauryn Hill Turned Down “Love Jones” Role
ILOSM fam’ can y’all believe it’s been 22 years since the cult classic film, Love Jones, hit theaters? Seems like just yesterday that we were waiting for the release of the film that introduced us to “Darius Lovehall” and “Nina Moseley’s” relationship.
Years later, on the 20th anniversary of the film in 2017, cast members- Nia Long, Bill Bellamy, Larenz Tate, Isaiah Washington, and Lisa Nicole Carson- along with the film’s writer-director, Ted Witcher (pictured above, 2nd from left), dished some previously unknown behind-the-scenes facts about the Love Jones.
Director Tells Why Jada Pinkett-Smith Declined “Love Jones” Movie Role:
Witcher revealed that Nia Long was nowhere on his radar when he was trying to cast the film. He instead wanted Jada Pinkett-Smith:
Witcher- “Believe it or not, I had Jada Pinkett [Smith] in mind. I had seen her on “A Different World” and thought she had a very different sensibility from other black actresses of her generation. I tried to get her and she passed.”
Jada Pinkett-Smith as ‘Nina Moseley’?!! Nah. Don’t me wrong, I love me some Jada and one of my favorite Jada roles is “Stony” in Set It Off, but after seeing Nia as “Nina,” there is just no other “Nina” in my eyes.
That’s not all that was revealed though, turns out, Witcher almost got Lauryn Hill to star in the film too. Interestingly, he initially did NOT want Larenz Tate in Love Jones, but he had his reasons…
