Sanaa Lathan, Nia Long Move to 'Cleveland'

Zap2It.com | July 14, 2008

Sanaa Lathan

Kevin Michael Richardson also joins 'Family Guy' spinoff

FOX's "Family Guy" spinoff "The Cleveland Show" has filled out its cast, adding a voice-over pro and a couple of fairly well-known actresses to its roster.

Sanaa Lathan ("A Raisin in the Sun," "Nip/Tuck"), Nia Long ("Big Shots," "Are We Done Yet?") and Kevin Michael Richardson ("Knights of Prosperity") have all signed on to the cast, the network announced Monday at its TCA press tour session. They join Mike Henry, who has voiced Cleveland Brown on "Family Guy" for several seasons and will star in the new series.

The show, which is scheduled to premiere early next year, follows Peter Griffin's neighbor as he moves to Virginia to be with his high-school sweetheart (Lathan) and her kids. His son Cleveland Jr. will also be part of the show.

Long will voice Cleveland's stepdaughter, Roberta, while Richardson will play a loud-mouthed, redneck neighbor named Lester.

Both Lathan and Long are relative newcomers to the animation game. The show will be Long's first voice-over role, while Lathan's only previous credit in that realm is a kids' movie called "The Golden Blaze."

Richardson, though, has an extensive list of voice credits, ranging from "The Spectacular Spider-Man" to "The PJs" to "Kim Possible" (he's also guested on "Family Guy" several times). He also co-stars in A&E's new live-action series "The Cleaner."