It’s been almost 25 years since the release of “Love & Basketball,” and Sanaa Lathan admits that she had no idea it would “become what it became” or have a lasting impact on pop culture.

During a recent interview with PEOPLE, the actress reminisced about the warm reception the classic film received during its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. “I just remember, after there was a five-minute standing ovation, I was just floored … and then the rest is history,” she said. “It became this thing where people watched it over and over and over again, and it crossed all racial and cultural lines.”

Lathan starred as a basketball player alongside Omar Epps. “What a gift it was that I was able to, at a young age, play this amazing, fierce character in this beloved movie,” she continued. “When we were making it, for me, I was nervous about the basketball because I really wasn’t a basketball player. I looked like a basketball player because I had a dance background, so I was able to really mimic.”

Earlier this month, Lathan and Gina Prince-Bythewood, director of “Love & Basketball,” reunited at a WNBA game between the L.A. Sparks and New York Liberty. In the movie, a scene was filmed at a WNBA game. “When we shot that last shot where Monica is in an actual game at the end of the movie where Quincy and her daughter are sitting courtside, that was an actual L.A. Sparks game,” Lathan explained to PEOPLE. “We had one take. I was so nervous because they allowed us to get the real stadium and the real players. One take, because it was in the middle of an actual game.”

In 2023, the movie was selected for the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry for its “cultural, historic” and “aesthetic importance.” Now, Lathan is the star of Hulu’s new film “The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat” alongside Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor and Uzo Aduba.