Sanaa Lathan on binge-worthy new Netflix series ‘Hit & Run’

The actress co-stars alongside the show's Israeli co-creator, Lior Raz, in the drama

Sanaa Lathan continues to expand her impressive repertoire with unconventional roles and she’s showcasing her skills in Netflix’s binge-worthy new drama, Hit & Run. 

The show stars its co-creator Lior Raz, and even though he’s a bonafide star all over the world, this may be the first time you’ve seen the sexy, Israeli actor doing his thing. 

Here’s the synopsis: 

Tour guide Segev Azulai (Lior Raz) lives a contented life in Tel Aviv with his young daughter (Neta Orbach) and his new American wife Danielle (Kaelen Ohm). When Danielle is killed in a mysterious hit and run on the day she was set to return to New York for a visit, he suspects it may not have been an accident. Grief-stricken and confused, he searches for his wife’s killers, who have fled to the U.S. With the help of his Israeli police detective cousin (Moran Rosenblatt), an old friend (Gal Toren), and an American ex-lover (Sanaa Lathan) who is a savvy investigative reporter, Segev uncovers disturbing truths about his beloved wife and the secrets she kept from him.

The all-star cast will have you on the edge of your seat throughout this continent-hopping, heart-pounding, show that has so many twists it will leave your head spinning. 

Sanaa Lathan in ‘Hit & Run’ (Netflix)

theGrio caught up with Lathan to find out what attracted her to the riveting role. 

“I just fell in love with the scripts I got…They gave me four scripts to read over the course of a week and I was annoyed that I had to read them because I had things to do. I was planning on breaking it up into two days, [reading] two on Saturday, two on Sunday. When I sat down on Saturday to read it I did not get up until it was done! And then I was mad and I wanted to take a meeting just to find out what happened. I knew it was a really good script,” she says. 

Lathan plays Segev’s friend and former lover, who also happens to be a reporter for New York Magazine and she found some things in common with her character.

“To cultivate that character, it was great. I have some friends who are journalists and I talked to them about it and it’s very similar to acting with every character, with every story I’m trying to tell, I just try to dig in and get as much truth out of it as possible and I kind of get passionate about it,” she explains. 

“I can’t let go till I get to the truth and that’s who Naomi is. She knows that she shouldn’t get involved in this and yet as soon as she gets hooked in, she can’t stop. And so there were a lot of similarities in that respect.” 

Lathan admits she wasn’t too familiar with the work of her would-be co-star, Raz.

“I was not familiar with Lior but I started asking around and so many people around me were in love and obsessed with Fauda including my mother. My mother was like, ‘He is fine, girl, you got to do it!’ I was like, ‘really?’ I quickly educated myself on him and then the rest is history.” 

"Fauda" New York Screening
Lior Raz attends the “Fauda” New York Screening at 92nd Street (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)

We’re pretty sure viewers will be instantly attracted to Raz and his character and may even develop an unexpected crush on the unlikely action hero. 

“He’s got this intense –it’’s something that you don’t see as much— like that manly, kind of like that edgy, manly man. There’s a lot of kind of metro and sexy movie stars out there now, but he like kind of calls back to that old style of the real kind of tough guy.” 

Raz had nothing but nice things to say about Lathan when we caught up with him to talk about the project.

“Sanaa, listen…she’s a phenomenon. She’s an amazing actress, right? Just to see her ability to express herself every time in the same way in different angles– she’s just like a walking acting studio,” he says. “I learned a lot from her and we had a great connection.”

Check out the full interviews above and if you’re looking for something to suck you in for an entire weekend, tune in to Hit & Run, streaming now on Netflix. 

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