Sanaa Lathan is uplifting single mothers in her role in BET+ film, Young. Wild. Free.

The film, which made its premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, has finally made its way to BET+, and Trey Mangum, managing editor for Blavity’s Shadow and Act, spoke with Lathan and other lead cast members Sierra Capri and Algee Smith about the drama.

Lathan, who plays Janice, the mother of Smith’s character Brandon, said to Mangum that she was excited to play Janice because of how different she is from other characters she portrayed.

“Part of the reason why I was drawn to her is because she was such a different character than what I usually get cast in. I started out in the theater, and one of the joys of acting to me is to really transform,” she said. “I love playing the ingenue, the leading lady…but sometimes the juiciest fun you can have is creating a character very different from yourself.”

“Her plight is the plight of so many women in America and I just love being able to reflect her journey back to all those single mothers out there that are struggling, maybe not getting it all the right but they’re still there,” she continued. “There’s also the aspect of her mental health issues and it’s something that we don’t necessarily deal with in our community. So [because of] all of those things, I was really drawn to it.”

Young. Wild. Free. stars Smith as Brandon, who is trying to make ends meet for himself and his siblings. But he’s put in a position he never thought he’d be in when the girl he’s interested in, Cassidy (Capri), holds him at gunpoint. Directed by Thembi Banks and written by Banks, Juel Taylor and Tony Rettenmaier, Young. Wild. Free. is now streaming on BET+.

Watch the full interview below: