Nia Long (vs Beyonce): Don’t Be a Bitter Betty!

Nia Long on the July 2009 Cover of Pride Magazine

Nia Long recently shared her two pennies about musical folk who expand their creative potential from singing into acting:

“I didn’t see ‘Obsessed’, so I can’t comment,” says Long, when asked by UK magazine Pride about Beyoncé’s acting skills. “But,” she continues, “it’s just not about how talented you are any more. It’s about ‘How much box office revenue will this person generate?’”

“When you see certain people — we won’t name names — they just don’t have the skill, and no one in their team has said: ‘You need acting classes’.”

“If you’re a singer not an actress, you should sing. If you’re a rapper, you should rap. If you take time to develop your craft, God bless you. Jamie Foxx is an example of both.”

This is not the first time that an actor has gone on record to complain about singers taking their acting jobs. I understand where they’re coming from, but I don’t see this trend changing any time soon. Film companies want to make money, and if they believe that a recording artist will have a bigger draw than a regular actor, they’re making a choice that will affect their bottom line.

My advice to Nia: If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. There are thousands of fans out there who love Nia Long’s work, so why not go to them directly? If you’re not working as much as you like, then that means that you have time to Twitter, Facebook, et cetera. Build your own fanbase, create a YouTube channel, start your own newsletter, whatever! Just get over yourself, and do what needs to be done. You’ve already succeeded as a well-known, well-paid African-American actress in a very competitive industry. If you can accomplish that, you’re already ahead of the game. Leverage your current level of success, and dare to go further.

Complaining about stuff you can’t change is a waste of energy that would be better spent on building your own database of diehard fans, and learning to produce a film on your own. We may not always like it, but the times, they are a changing, Girlfriend.

In other words: Don’t hate the player. Instead, change YOUR game!

And that’s my two pennies!