The 45-year-old actress says she hopes her new Fox show, 'Shots Fired,' is 'cathartic' for viewers.
Sanaa Lathan is getting back in the TV game -- with a little help from her Love & Basketball director.
ET's Leanne Aguilera caught up with the 45-year-old actress at the Fox's Television Critics Association press day on Wednesday, where she opened up about her fierce new role as expert investigator Ashe Bell on the network's new show, Shots Fired.
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"She's an actor's dream," Lathan confessed. "It's a tour de force role, and I was just so thrilled to work with Gina [Prince-Bythewood], who wrote and directed Love & Basketball, and Reggie [Rock Bythewood], her husband. We've been friends for years, and they have such integrity in their way. It shows in the piece, and it shows in the roles."
Shots Fired details the aftermath of a racially charged police shooting in a small North Carolina town, and Lathan says she hopes the new show is "cathartic" for people to watch.
"I just feel like you can never kind of determine what people are going to take...people bring themselves to a piece and just like beauty, art is in the eye of the beholder," she revealed. "It is so timely, so relevant to what's going on, It's going to almost seem surreal."
"It's just well done and at most, I hope that it's cathartic and healing for people, and at the very least, I hope that it is just good entertainment," she added.
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The actress also opened up about her next film, American Assassin, which stars Teen Wolf actor Dylan O'Brien.
"I just got back from London. I worked with Michael Keaton and Dylan O'Brien and it's going to be good," she shared. "It's intense. I think the fans of the book won't be disappointed."
As for how O'Brien is doing in his first movie role since sustaining major injuries after an accident on set of the Maze Runner last year, Lathan says he's "great."
"He's great. He's probably the most humble guy and really intense, really intense and really committed to the work," she said. "Every take was like, 'How can we make this better? How can we make this more truthful?' So… I have a lot of respect for him after working with him."
Shots Fired premieres March 22 on Fox.
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