Tamera Mowry-Housley Shares How Her Time On 'The Real' Made Her Realize Her Voice Mattered
Tamera Mowry-Housley has been in the spotlight since she was a child acting alongside her twin sister Tia Mowry. But while she has taken on roles that show her as outspoken and opinionated, like her Sister, Sister character, in real life, she mostly kept her views to herself. In an interview with Essence, the veteran actress shared how working on The Real was the first time she truly felt heard.
“Because I had experienced and lived enough life to do so. The first time I truly ever believed and realized that my voice actually matters and that there is an audience that wants to hear it, was when I was doing The Real,” she said.
But it wasn’t that simple. While she had a platform with an audience and co-hosts who accepted her as she was, she still struggled to voice her opinion for a while. “For at least three years, every single time I heard ‘This Is Our Time,’ I thought I was going to throw up!” She confessed. “I wasn’t used to speaking my voice. I always spoke others’ words. As an actress, I would speak whatever is on that page.”
Speaking about her faith was a lot easier than exposing her personal life such as dating and sex. She admitted it was “daunting” at times but realized this. “‘Whoa. I actually do have something to say and I shouldn’t be afraid of it.'”
The mother of two delved further into her personal experiences with her memoir You Should Sit Down for This: A Memoir About Life, Wine + Cookies and shared that writing the book was equally as agonizing as her time on The Real.
“Every day I was exposing something of myself, and there was a tagline about it, whether I wanted it to happen or not,” she said. “But I realized the power of being vulnerable, and what I mean by ‘power’ is that that’s when you resonate with people. For me, I don’t do things just to do them. Not for self-glorification. That never felt comfortable.”
She added, “The core of what I do is I always want to encourage, inspire. I’m not just saying things to hear myself talk.”
But through the writing, the former talk show host learned a lot about herself and shares the advice she gives her readers. “I’ve always known that I was strong, but looking back, wow. Wow, that is definitely a gift of mine. The fact that I didn’t quit, I’m shocked,” she said.
“Still staying sane and happy and a loving person, never let what people say to you define who you are – that’s what I talk about in the book, and to know who you are as a person and never let them change who you are.”
She hopes that her memoir gives readers a one-on-one experience with Tamera the person and not just the actress or talk show host we see on TV. “This book is a love letter to myself and to everyone who has grown up watching me,” she said. “When you read this book, you’re sitting down with me and we’re ki-king, we’re talking, we’re enjoying each other. Having that tea, having that cookie, having that glass of wine, we’re just talking about life and inspiring each other and encouraging each other.”
You Should Sit Down for This: A Memoir About Life, Wine + Cookies is out now.
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ItGirl 100 Honors Black Women Who Create Culture & Put On For Their Cities
As they say, create the change you want to see in this world, besties. That’s why xoNecole linked up with Hyundai for the inaugural ItGirl 100 List, a celebration of 100 Genzennial women who aren’t afraid to pull up their own seats to the table. Across regions and industries, these women embody the essence of discovering self-value through purpose, honey! They're fierce, they’re ultra-creative, and we know they make their cities proud.
VIEW THE FULL ITGIRL 100 LIST HERE.
Don’t forget to also check out the ItGirl Directory, featuring 50 Black-woman-owned marketing and branding agencies, photographers and videographers, publicists, and more.
THE ITGIRL MEMO
I. An ItGirl puts on for her city and masters her self-worth through purpose.
II. An ItGirl celebrates all the things that make her unique.
III. An ItGirl empowers others to become the best versions of themselves.
IV. An ItGirl leads by example, inspiring others through her actions and integrity.
V. An ItGirl paves the way for authenticity and diversity in all aspects of life.
VI. An ItGirl uses the power of her voice to advocate for positive change in the world.
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You've Never Seen Luke James In A Role Quite Like This
Over the years, we've watched Luke James play countless characters we'd deem sex symbols, movie stars, and even his complicated character in Lena Waithe's The Chi. For the first time in his career, the New Orleans-born actor has taken on a role where his signature good looks take a backseat as he transforms into Edmund in Them: The Scare—a mentally deranged character in the second installment of the horror anthology series that you won't be able to take your eyes off.
Trust us, Edmund will literally make you do a double take.
xoNecole sat down with Luke James to talk about his latest series and all the complexity surrounding it—from the challenges taking on this out-of-the-box role to the show's depiction of the perplexing history of the relationship between Black Americans and police. When describing the opportunity to bring Edmund's character to life, Luke was overjoyed to show the audience yet another level of his masterful acting talents.
"It was like bathing in the sun," he said. "I was like, thank you! Another opportunity for me to be great—for me to expand my territory. I'm just elated to be a part of it and to see myself in a different light, something I didn't think I could do." He continued, "There are parts of you that says, 'Go for it because this is what you do.' But then also that's why it's a challenge because you're like, 'um, I don't know if I'm as free as I need to be to be able to do this.' Little Marvin just created such a safe space for me to be able to do this, and I'm grateful for everything I've been able to do to lead to this."
Courtesy
Them: The Scare, like the first season, shines a light on the plight of Black Americans in the United States. This time, the story is taking place in the 1990s, at the height of the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles. While the series presents many underlying themes, one that stands out is Black people and the complicated relationship with the police. "For the audience, I think it sets the tone for the era that we're in and the amount of chaos that's in the air in Los Angeles and around the country from this heinous incident. And I say it just sets the tone of the anxiety and anxiousness that everybody is feeling in their own households."
James has been a longtime advocate against police brutality himself. He has even featured Elijah McClain, the 23-year-old Colorado man who died after being forcibly detained by officers, as his Instagram avatar for the past five years. So, as you can imagine, this script was close to his heart. "Elijah was a soft-loving oddball. Different than anyone but loving and a musical genius. He was just open and wanted to be loved and seen."
Getty Images
Luke continued, "His life was taken from him. I resonate with his spirit and his words...through all the struggle and the pain he still found it in him to say, 'I love you and I forgive you.' And that's who we are as people—to our own detriment sometimes. He's someone I don't want people to forget. I have yet to remove his face from my world because I have yet to let go of his voice, let go of that being [because] there's so many people we have lost in our history that so often get forgotten."
He concluded, "I think that's the importance of such artwork that moves us to think and talk about it. Yes, it's entertaining. We get to come together and be spooked together. But then we come together and we think, 'Damn, Edmund needed someone to talk to. Edmund needed help... a lot [of] things could have been different. Edmund could have been saved.'
Check out the full interview below.
Luke James Talks Ditching Sex Symbol Status For "Them: The Scare", Elijah McClain, & Morewww.youtube.com
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