Nia Long, whose acting career spans more than three decades in film and television—and who is cited as the pinnacle of beauty and sex appeal in more than a few song lyrics— performance remains about art. Fame and fortune were never the goals for the now-veteran actor. Instead, stepping in front of the camera was a catalyst for something more primal: survival.Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Long, 51, is a second-generation Trinidadian American; her grandparents, she tells me, moved to the U.S.