PR.com (Allison Kugel): How were you first approached to take part in Chris Rock’s documentary, Good Hair?

Nia Long: I got a call from my publicist saying that Chris Rock was doing a documentary called Good Hair, and I thought, “Ok, that’s a good subject.” And it pretty much went from there. I went in and had an interview with him. We’ve been friends for a really long time. It was kind of a no-brainer for me to support a subject and a project that I think is super relevant.

PR.com: Growing up, what were you taught about your ethnicity and your hair texture?

Nia Long: Growing up, my mom was a bit of a hippy. We’re originally from Brooklyn and we spent a lot of time in Iowa, and my mother was all about the Afro. I have pictures of me as a young girl with an Afro. I was taught to be proud of my blackness, proud of my hair, proud of who I am in my organic, raw state.

PR.com: So you didn’t have the same insecurities that I hear a lot of black women say they had when they were little? You had a different experience.

Nia Long: The insecurities definitely didn’t come from what was taught in the house. I think the insecurities stem from the images that we see in society. It’s a known fact that there are fewer women of color who are celebrated for their beauty. The insecurities come from the way we’re, I don’t want to say brainwashed, but media runs the world. Whatever media says is beautiful, after a while we tend to believe it and there are very few women that look like us that are called beautiful. Maybe not just women, but features, whether it’s your hair, your eyes, your nose, your ass, whatever it is.

PR.com: You said the standard of beauty is what society tells us it is. Then let’s say tomorrow a dark skinned black woman with natural kinky hair was made the next great sex symbol and she was on magazine covers. Would black women everywhere be taking down their weaves and throwing out their chemical relaxers?

Nia Long: No, I don’t think it’s that serious. I think weaves, ralaxers or [not using] relaxers are all choices we have, and it’s really about what makes you feel comfortable. The social issue as it relates to black beauty has more to do with the images that we’ve seen over a period of time. It’s not anything that’s necessarily spoken as much as it is something that’s visual. If you hear a song on the radio twenty-five times at first you may be like, “Ugh I can’t stand this song.” By the twenty-fifth time you might start liking it. By the hundredth time you’re dancing to it. So it’s really a very subtle thing, but I think it has a huge affect.

click to read interview with Nia Long