Guest Appearance

Tangi Miller

After reaching stardom as a cast member on the hit television show, Felicity, Tangi Miller went on to play the lead roles in the movies Madea’s Family Reunion, Too Legit: The M.C. Hammer Story, The Other Brother, and Leprechaun: Back 2 tha Hood. She has guest starred in shows such as The Shield and Cold Case. Also to her credit, she wrote and produced Love & Other 4 Letter Words. TV Guide named her one of the sexiest stars on television and Ebony Magazine called her one of the most beautiful people of the millennium. Miller grew up the oldest of six children in Miami, Florida. The kids were not allowed to watch television, but she started acting in live theater while in high school.

We were invited to spend an afternoon with Tangi recently and we were won over by her beauty, grace, and intelligence. Here is a bit of our conversation...

So, Tangi, what brings you to SLO?

I wanted to get away from the hoopla of the Grammies and the awards season in general. So it was really nice to come here and not have to deal with all that stuff, and just chill. My boyfriend and I have loved our time here.

Is this your first time visiting the area?

No, actually after wrapping up a season of the show Felicity, J.J. Abrams gave all of us weekend trips here as a gift. It was probably six years ago now. Aside from driving through – I love road trips – I haven’t come to stay since then, but your little town has some great buzz going for it in Hollywood these days.

Thanks – that’s nice to hear… um, I think. Now, you mentioned J.J. Abrams, who is he exactly?

You don’t know who J.J. Abrams is!? [laughter] You’ve got to be kidding. Superman, Felicity, Alias… the director, the producer? Huge, huge, huge… Wow, I really did get away [from Hollywood]!

Okay, note to self, J.J. Abrams is a big shot.

[laughter] Oh my goodness. You guys are too funny!

Alright, indulge us if you would, and take us behind the scenes at the Grammies. Who was looking fabulous? Give us your top two.

My boyfriend and I went to Clive Davis’s after party and most everybody was there, but I remember thinking that Gwenyth Paltrow looked amazing. And, Beyoncé, she was beautiful, as always.

We’ve heard that you’ve tried your hand at directing a documentary recently. What’s that like?

It’s so wonderful to act, to express yourself that way, but it’s really incredible to have a voice as an artist, to pick a story or to write a story and say, “I’m going to make this [film] with these people.” So, to me there is nothing more incredible because you have everything to work with. It’s just really nice to have a voice and it’s a lot different than acting and it satisfies me in a different kind of way than acting does.

I’ve read that you are interested in examining relationships? How so?

So the question becomes how do we have kids in the future when so many of the relationships are broken? I think as a whole in this country we are divorcing so much and we have broken kids as a result. I just think it all comes back to the relationship between a man and a woman and it all flows from there. It’s right there and we don’t have it worked out, so I am exploring that, which is really interesting and therapeutic.

What’s the most interesting part of that for you?

Now that the roles are so confused, I mean it used to be that men do this and women do that, and we seemed to stay together longer because everyone knew their roles. But, now we’re all working on our careers and we’re all trying to decide as a society, “Ok, who’s going to do what?” And, I just don’t know that we have it worked out, especially in the black community with the divorce rates being what they are. To me, those are the questions I’d like to ask. That’s the little voice that I’d like to hear from.

Okay, it sounds like you have the questions worked out. Have you been able to come up with any answers?

I think that sometimes we’re just chasing this assembly-line-of-a-life; of a career; of getting things; and we don’t let life happen. And, like the grandmother says in the film Love & Other 4 Letter Words, “When you’re older, you’re going to want more time with your loved ones, not more time at work.”

One last thing. We’d like to ask you for some advice. Live theater is big here on the Central Coast, so what insight could you offer to someone just getting started in acting?

If you choose acting for a career, you don’t have that much control over what is going to happen. So you have to truly love it. I think it’s wise to do it for more than just wanting to become famous because there are so few of us that actually gain any recognition. So, to teach, or work, or just be able to express yourself through theater as an artist is very, very satisfying.

SLO LIFE

NeuvationCycling.com

Not just a new bike shop, a new way to buy a bike.

Quality road bikes starting at $1100.

Each bike custom assembled to your specs. Instead of selling you a bike in stock, we help you assemble the bike that’s best for you at prices typically 40% below brand names. Because we buy direct from the manufacturers and sell direct to you, we save you lots of money while still offering the best products available. We sell only quality carbon and alloy road and cross bikes and have a full line of wheels including carbon and alloy tubular wheels. We service only what we sell allowing us to focus entirely on you.

142 Cross Street Suite 100 SLO, P805-544-2703 Across from Idlers. Monday through Friday 10-5 Saturday 10-4

“We tripled our business last year and the only place we advertised was SLO LIFE Magazine.”

- Dan Melton & Rachael Hill, SLO Veg

Call Tom to find out how we can help your business grow, too.