“The Best Man” is having one last reunion! The new sequel series based on the film of the same name, “The Best Man: The Final Chapters,” is just days away, premiering just in time for the holidays on Peacock.
Ahead of the premiere, theGrio caught up with Nia Long and Taye Diggs, breaking down this new chapter of “The Best Man” story, how it feels to reunite as a cast all these years later and the specific challenges that comes with shifting from film to television.
As theGrio previously reported, the upcoming series is the final installment in the story that began with the hit romantic comedy from 1999. The show, set to drop on Peacock, reunites the entire original cast, including Diggs, Long, Morris Chestnut, Melissa De Sousa, Regina Hall, Terrence Howard, Sanaa Lathan and Harold Perrineau. For the cast, Long and Diggs told theGrio, it felt a bit like a “family reunion” whenever they get together.
“When you act together you end up forming more of a familial bond, so it feels like a family reunion,” Diggs said. “And then you add the Dominican Republic which is where we first started filming, that makes it more fun … it was hard work but we can stand in the comfort of saying that we are proud of it.”
“There is trust,” Long expressed. “There is so much trust between us. We really genuinely love one another and we want the best for one another and there is a protection that we have for one another.”
She added that the closeness extended off the set as well, as the group has maintained bonds over the years. “No one could ever come to me and say anything negative about one of my castmates,” she said. “Like, it’s just not happening.”
“The Best Man: The Final Chapters” did come with some challenges, the actors said, including the switch from film to television. “It was challenging for me to go from film to television because there are certain things that you have to do to adjust to the platform that you can just have more freedom in film,” Long explained. “But for the audience, I think they are going to love [the series].”
Diggs added, “The series jumps different places in time and we have to kind of imagine what this character would do in a time that we haven’t acted yet … but it’s gonna be great to watch! There’s backstory that you get, some secrets that are kind of exposed that you didn’t realize, so it’s really fun.”
“The Best Man: The Final Chapters” begins streaming Dec. 22 on Peacock.
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