Nia Long was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Doc and Talita Long. Nia's parents divorced when she was a little over two years old. She moved with her mother to Iowa City, Iowa, where her mother studied fine arts, and then to a lower-middle-class South Central Los Angeles neighborhood when Nia was seven. She attended Catholic school for a while and studied ballet, tap, jazz, gymnastics, guitar and acting. Due to the lack of employment opportunities in the Arts in Los Angeles when Nia and Talita first arrived there, Talita took various low-paying jobs, in spite of being equipped with two master's degrees, that resulted in financial straits for the mother and daughter. Nia's motivation to be successful was driven by her desire to help ease her mother's financial burden.



Voted one of the 50 most beautiful people in the World 2000 by People Magazine Took Third Place by the readers of Black Men Magazine for "The 10 Sexiest Women of the Year." [2000] Was a registered Girl Scout. Career got started by Betty A. Bridges, mother of actor Todd Bridges. Betty was her acting coach for 15 years. She beat out Jada Pinkett (Will Smith's future wife) for the role of Lisa on "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air".