Before Hollywood fame, Nia Long was a kid in Iowa belting out Kenny Loggins’ ‘This Is It.’ At a film festival, she took that nostalgia to the stage.
ByBernadette Giacomazzo
November 7, 2026
Key Takeaways
- Nia Long told Kenny Loggins, “You were the first white man I ever had a crush on,” while accepting the Coronado Island Film Festival’s Leonard Maltin Award.
- Long recalled singing Loggins’ “This Is It” as a child, while the Legacy Award honoree shared how targeting Top Gun’s volleyball scene landed him “Playing with the Boys.”
- Long credited her artistic family for shaping her decades-long career and will explore her childhood and Hollywood’s racism and colorism in The Sound of Purpose, out May 25, 2027.
Nia Long has been a Hollywood fixture for more than 30 years, but apparently, even she isn’t immune to getting starstruck.
The actress was supposed to be celebrating her career at the Coronado Island Film Festival on Wednesday, November 4. Instead, she used part of her acceptance speech to confess that fellow honoree Kenny Loggins was her very first white celebrity crush. And she wasn’t about to let the moment pass without telling him.
“I am having the most incredible fan moment right now,” Long announced from the stage “Mr. Kenny Loggins, you were the first white man I ever had a crush on.”
Then came the clarification nobody asked for, but everybody needed: “I just have to say it because it’s the truth.”
Long, who was receiving the festival’s Leonard Maltin Award, explained that her affection for the Grammy-winning singer dated back to her childhood in Iowa, when she regularly belted out his 1979 hit “This Is It.” She even recited some of the lyrics during her speech.
For anyone unfamiliar with Loggins’ Hollywood credentials, he’s the voice behind some of the biggest movie soundtrack hits of the 1980s, including “Footloose” and “Danger Zone” from Top Gun.
He was receiving the festival’s Legacy Award ahead of a screening of his documentary, Kenny Loggins: Conviction of the Heart.
And while Long was busy confessing her childhood crush, Loggins had stories of his own to share. Recalling how he landed “Playing with the Boys” on the Top Gun soundtrack, he explained that other musicians were competing for the film’s opening sequence.
He deliberately went after the volleyball scene instead. “Nobody is going to write for that scene,” he recalled thinking. “And it worked.”
Of course, Long had plenty of reasons to celebrate beyond finally meeting her childhood crush. The festival recognized her decades-long career and her portrayal of Katherine Jackson in Antoine Fuqua’s Michael, which arrived in theaters in April.
During her acceptance speech, she credited the artists in her own family with shaping her career.
“My grandmother was a beautician. My mother is an artist. My father was a poet,” she said. “So this work was destined for me. I really had no choice.”
She added, “I’m so grateful to have a career for this long, where I have been able to stand in my truth.”
That career includes Boyz n the Hood, Love Jones, Soul Food, Friday, and The <a href="https://comicvibe.com/10-best-animated-tv-shows-streaming-on-hbo-max-ranked/” title=”10 Best Animated TV Shows Streaming On HBO Max, Ranked”>Best Man, along with her memorable run on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
Long has also been opening up about the experiences behind her success. Her upcoming memoir, The Sound of Purpose, arrives May 25, 2027, and will explore her childhood, family relationships, and experiences navigating racism and colorism in Hollywood.
The Coronado ceremony also honored Michael casting director Victoria Thomas, costume designer Amy Roth, and producer Coco Francini.
