# Twin actresses Tia and Tamera Mowry, of Sister, Sister fame, talk about the challenge



## MrsHouston (Nov 11, 2007)

*Twin actresses Tia and Tamera Mowry, of Sister, Sister fame, talk about the challenge of staying faithful in a culture of celebrity worship.
*

Actresses Tia and Tamera Mowry are best known as the stars of Sister, Sister, their 1994 to '99 sitcom about twins separated at birth who end up meeting each other in a shopping mall. The show had six successful seasons and continues in reruns on the Disney Channel. But the acting started much earlier in their lives.

When Tia and Tamera were 8 years old, they asked neighborhood friends Ron, Vanessa, and Tameya to come over and "play church." The twins sang songs like "Go Tell It on the Mountain"—music they learned from their mother who sang in the choir. Then it was time for the preaching. Tamera remembers her messages: Be good, and love your neighbors as you love yourself. "It wasn't anything deep," she says, "because at that age, of course, we didn't understand everything."

The Mowry girls might not have grasped the intricacies of adult faith, but they knew how to mimic what they were seeing at their own church. Their play-sermons would involve prayers and invitations to receive Christ as Savior. "Then we used to lay hands on people and they'd fall out," Tamera laughs.

Tia says her faith became more real in her teenage years. "I didn't know why I was going to church. I didn't know why I was reading my Bible. I didn't really know why I was praying," she told The 700 Club a few years ago. "But I can remember at 15 years old I said, 'I'm going to walk with Jesus Christ. I want to know Him for myself.'"

Adds Tamera, "Our grandmother always taught us that you've got to know Jesus for yourself. You've got to get into that Word for yourself! But I think I was about 15 or 16 when I realized: You know what? I have to be real for Christ. And that's when you grow."

Celebrity problems
Unlike other professed Christians in the spotlight, Tia and Tamera remained close to the Lord during the height of their popularity. "My sister and I—not naming any names—run into so many people who say before they get famous, 'I will never [compromise],'" Tia says thoughtfully. But then they get famous, and "all of the sudden we see them taking their clothes off."

Fame is a strange phenomenon. Whoever sells the most magazines, records, and movie tickets gets treated like a god. And in Hollywood, the worship of celebrity even infiltrates the unlikeliest of places—church.

Tia and Tamera used to attend a large church in Los Angeles renowned for the famous faces that populate its services. "We started going there before it was a huge church," recalls Tia. But it later became "the place" for the stars to worship, and attendance boomed.
	"We don't see ourselves as celebrities. God sees us all the same and looks at our heart."—Tia Mowry	

Soon, the sisters realized the church showed favoritism towards celebrities. "Yeah, you had special parking spots," Tia laments. "Some people got offended when they'd let that basketball player in [a special parking spot] and they'd been going to this church a lot longer." The sisters became uncomfortable with the lack of equality. "Jesus Christ wants everybody to see that whether you're rich or poor, a doctor or a janitor, God sees us all the same and looks at our heart," says Tia.

The parking situation was not all. The famous twins used to be escorted to the front for special seats. "My sister and I are not really that type of people. We don't see ourselves as celebrities," Tia insists. Still, she says, it wasn't just the church staff: "One time, I had my hands lifted up. I was crying and praising God, and then someone touched me on my left side and said, 'Can I have your autograph?' That was extremely odd—how someone could forget where you are."

Tamera says that although church is for fellowship, it's also personal time. "When I praise and worship God, I like to block everything out. To have 50 people stare at you while you're worshiping feels weird."

The sisters do admit that sometimes public figures need special assistance. They remember attending an evangelistic service where a woman walked up to them, pointed a finger in their faces, and accused them of not being women of God. "It was scary," says Tia. "Because you're in the public eye, you're a target. If we didn't have somebody escorting us, it would have been difficult."

Getting dramatic
In a departure from her sitcom roots, Tamera recently joined the cast of Lifetime TV's hospital drama Strong Medicine, starring Patricia Richardson (formerly of Home Improvement). Tamera plays Kayla Thornton, a second-year resident in emergency medicine at Rittenhouse Hospital.

"I love being on the show," she says. "It gives me a chance to show people that I'm not the same little girl from Sister, Sister, and that I can do drama."

She also enjoys the challenge of being a witness on the set. She says she didn't have to announce that she is a Christian. Her colleagues knew there was something different about her. They labeled it "a different aura."

"We're supposed to be known by our walk with Christ," she says. "You know a person by their fruit."

One day, Tamera was in the makeup room talking to her mother about having to say the word "damn" on the show: "Mom, don't get mad at me. I know I'm a Christian. I have to say it—it's called for."

How did the makeup artist react when he overheard Tamera saying she was a Christian? "He was like, 'Yeah, I knew you were,'" she says, laughing.

"Everyone respects me because I'm not a judgmental Christian," she adds. "There are people who force things on people and there are others who just plant the seeds. I try to figure out how Jesus did it."

Weekday believers
The Mowry sisters both say they feel called by God to reach out to the younger generations. As a result, they regularly speak to youth groups about peer pressure, education, and dating. "We want to help people to have a relationship with God on the weekdays, as well as on Sundays," Tia says.

Finding a less celebrity-driven church became important to the Mowry sisters, too. They recently discovered just such a congregation (which they would rather not name). It wasn't long before their entire family switched over. "This church that we're going to right now basically treats everybody the same," Tia says. "If you are a celebrity, they don't move you to the front of the church. You just sit anywhere you want."

The sisters—whose father, Timothy Mowry, is white and mother, Darlene, is black—also appreciate the racially mixed congregation. Their former congregation was predominantly African American. Says Tamera, "I'd been praying for a church that's ethnically diverse. We're biracial, and I've never been around an area where it wasn't mixed. It felt weird going to a church with one ethnic background. It was like, 'Hmm, I know heaven isn't like this.'"

Tia and Tamera, who are 26 and single, both say they are becoming more focused on getting married someday. "We do want to get married and have kids," says Tamera. For now, though, they share a house in the San Fernando Valley. While Tamera works a day job on Strong Medicine, Tia works on film and voice-over projects. And they are both avid readers.

Tia says it's a challenge telling her friends in Hollywood that there is more to life than fame and fortune. "People don't want to hear that God doesn't care whether you have a 'Dr.' by your name or whether you've won an Oscar. In Hollywood, you're not on the cover of a magazine because you helped the poor or volunteered at a hospital; you're on the cover because you're worth so-and-so amount of money."

And the sisters' response to the misguided values of our celebrity-obsessed culture? "We have to focus on the fact that all of this is temporary," says Tia. "The main thing God is concerned about is what we're doing for Him."


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## blackbarbie (Nov 11, 2007)

*Re: Twin actresses Tia and Tamera Mowry, of Sister, Sister fame, talk about the chall*

Good article and OMG, your baby boy is adorable!!!


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## jrae (Nov 11, 2007)

*Re: Twin actresses Tia and Tamera Mowry, of Sister, Sister fame, talk about the chall*

Good for them!  I have admired them from afar for a long time and I'm glad they realized FAME was not for them.


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## ajoyfuljoy (Nov 11, 2007)

*Re: Twin actresses Tia and Tamera Mowry, of Sister, Sister fame, talk about the chall*

I really like the Mowry family as a whole. You can tell that they're really grounded and I believe they will go far and have long-term careers. God will bless them for being so faithful, real and HUMBLE, which is so rare nowadays.

*Can you give the link for the article? I want to spread it around. Thanks!*


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## stinastina (Nov 11, 2007)

*Re: Twin actresses Tia and Tamera Mowry, of Sister, Sister fame, talk about the chall*

Wonderful article ! I was just asking my son if he remembered watching Sister,Sister with me.


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## caligirl2385 (Nov 11, 2007)

*Re: Twin actresses Tia and Tamera Mowry, of Sister, Sister fame, talk about the chall*

GREAT ARTICLE.


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## Shimmie (Nov 11, 2007)

*Re: Twin actresses Tia and Tamera Mowry, of Sister, Sister fame, talk about the chall*



ajoyfuljoy said:


> I really like the Mowry family as a whole. You can tell that they're really grounded and I believe they will go far and have long-term careers. God will bless them for being so faithful, real and HUMBLE, which is so rare nowadays.
> 
> *Can you give the link for the article? I want to spread it around. Thanks!*


Here's the article from Christianity Today magazine

http://www.christianitytoday.com/tc/2005/002/14.42.html

It's over 2 years old (March/April issue 2005)

A lot has changed since then. Just how far with Tia go to stay in "The Game". In this show, her (Melanie) character is in complete opposite of 'her testimony'. Her character in the show has even renounced God and prayer. 

When do Christians 'stop' bowing to the world? I mean truly who is in charge of our lives? Our Destiny? Our total provision? God? Or is it man? 
I mean come on....when do 'we' take on the boldness of Daniel who would not stop praying to the God of Isreal and while in the midst of death, he still denied the kings rule and God 'stilled' the mouths of the lions. And it was the king, King Darius, who fell to fear, not Daniel. For the king had Daniel upon his heart and feared his death...yet Daniel lived.

When do we say to the King Nebukanezzars (sp?) of this world, "Nay, O' king, we will not bow down to your gods. And the 4th man showed up in the firery furnance into where they were thrown. The guards who threw them into the furnace perished, yet 'they' did not. For they knew, "If you don't bow, you don't burn. "

Good, actually an excellent article, I love the beauty of their family being biracial. A white man loved a black woman enough to not only marry her, but to stay with her and raise a beautiful family. 

But, yet a poor testimony for Tia and her 'bow' to hollywood. The God she serves for a hollywood script is not the God of Isreal. What happens when 'The Game' fades and fade it surely will. Even now there is a 'writers' strike...so now what? 

If she's there to make a difference, then that's what she needs to do. It's sad that 'sin' is the only draw to a good movie or a good show. No wonder there's so much compromise. Yet, those who know the God of Isreal, need never do so. 

God says, "I will reprove kings for your sake..." I will remove whoever gets in your way of your righteousness. 

The thing is, when an actor loves his/her craft, they will bend their stand and yield to the demand of the role called for. Yes, they will. They compromise. And that's so sad about the culture and life of hollywood today. Too many compromise...

I found this other site as well which has reader's comments noted after this same article; even the way they are dressed in the picture shown, is compromise:

http://onedroprule.org/post-7977.html

I still admire them very much, but they need prayer and a stronger grounding in God's word. It doesn't take much to make one stumble or fall.


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## Shimmie (Nov 11, 2007)

*Re: Twin actresses Tia and Tamera Mowry, of Sister, Sister fame, talk about the chall*

More hollywood compromise...

Not one movie but two, "Twitches" and "Twitches 2" where they both play the characters of teen witches.  

*Twitches 1:*

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitches

*Twitches 2:*

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitches_Too

In these movies they make witchcraft, chanting and spells look 'beautiful' to young and impressionable little girls who adore Tia and Tamera and look up to them.   

No matter what their 'intent' regarding these movies, they are feeding witchcraft into the hearts of the young ones who watch them. 

So who 'owns' them.  Did they 'sell out' to hollywood?  Yes they have; very sadly they have.  They're caught up in the snare of playing whatever the roles call for them to be 'there'.  

These are two precious girls who need Jesus even more than those they minister to.  satan cannot have them...


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## MrsHouston (Nov 11, 2007)

*Re: Twin actresses Tia and Tamera Mowry, of Sister, Sister fame, talk about the chall*



ajoyfuljoy said:


> I really like the Mowry family as a whole. You can tell that they're really grounded and I believe they will go far and have long-term careers. God will bless them for being so faithful, real and HUMBLE, which is so rare nowadays.
> 
> *Can you give the link for the article? I want to spread it around. Thanks!*



Sorry, I thought I posted it in the thread.  

http://www.christianitytoday.com/tc/2005/002/14.42.html

Tia Mowery was also featured/on the cover of last week's issue of Jet magazine.


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## MrsHouston (Nov 11, 2007)

*Re: Twin actresses Tia and Tamera Mowry, of Sister, Sister fame, talk about the chall*



blackbarbie said:


> Good article and OMG, your baby boy is adorable!!!



Thanks.

I enjoyed the article as well.


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## Belle Du Jour (Nov 11, 2007)

*Re: Twin actresses Tia and Tamera Mowry, of Sister, Sister fame, talk about the chall*



MrsHouston said:


> Sorry, I thought I posted it in the thread.
> 
> http://www.christianitytoday.com/tc/2005/002/14.42.html
> 
> Tia Mowery was also featured/on the cover of last week's issue of Jet magazine.



Thanks.  They seem like such upstanding young ladies.


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## Naijaqueen (Nov 12, 2007)

*Re: Twin actresses Tia and Tamera Mowry, of Sister, Sister fame, talk about the chall*

Great article, thanks for sharing. I had no idea! I thank God for keeping them in His warm embrace and using them to minister to others. He has given them the big platform to go forth and win souls through their actions.


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## charmingt (Apr 7, 2022)




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