Actress-Singer Tia Carrere Embraces Life's Changes

Epoch Times

6 days ago

Versatile actress and two-time Grammy Award winner Tia Carrere has spent the past four decades embracing new roles and reinventing herself across film, television, and music. That's what it took to build up a notable stack of acting credits—'Wayne's World,' 'True Lies,' 'Lilo & Stitch,' 'Relic Hunter.'
In a recent interview with The Epoch Times, the Hawaiian-born actress shared that at 58, she's ready and eager to appreciate the rewards of her hard work.
'I have to pinch myself because as you're running through all these things that you want to do in your life, it comes to that time, you have to relax into enjoying the fruits of your labor,' Carrere said.
One of those fruits is her new membership in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which she was invited to join in 2024. An Academy membership most significantly allows Carrere, who credits her acting career to a producer spotting her in a grocery store in Waikiki, Hawaii, to vote on Oscar nominations and winners, contributing to the selection of the best films and filmmakers in various categories.
Aside from her professional career success—her latest movie, the live-action remake of Disney's 2002 animated film 'Lilo & Stitch,' premieres on May 23—Carrere also feels personally accomplished.
'I've definitely hit my stride in the past couple of years,' she said. 'In the last couple [of] years, the things that weren't working for me anymore, I left behind. And the things that I used to let scare me, I saw as challenges to overcome.'
The Great Outdoors
On a recent trip to Belize, she conquered one of those fears—swimming in the open ocean.
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'I know, being from Hawaii, it seems insane, but I've always been terrified of sharks,' Carrere said.
'I was swimming surrounded [by] three sharks just moving around. It was so beautiful and so calming. I got certified for diving to 100 feet. I always thought it was going to be claustrophobic, and come to find out, not so much.
'I find it expansive and like a meditation to go scuba diving under the ocean. It really makes you calm your breathing and calm your nervous system, and just relax into the experience of commuting with nature.'
In addition to her newfound appreciation for diving and swimming, Carrere has discovered the joys of traversing 'up hills and mountains' while mountain biking.
'I thought I physically was incapable of doing that,' she said. 'But I do that now and it's [about] enjoying the journey of learning something, of building up a skill, of challenging myself.'
This is powerful stuff, acknowledged Carrere, especially when working in an industry that values youth.
'You know, that old adage of, Who's Tia Carrere? Get me Tia Carrere. Get me a younger Tia Carrere. And who's Tia Carrere?' she said. 'It's a cruel truth. But it really is what it is. It's only painful if you fight it.'
The Power of Family
It was her grandmother's fortitude that motivated Carrere during the more difficult times of her journey.
'She caught the bus to work. She worked at Pearl Harbor for 50 years, and she always taught me her work ethic and being humble,' Carrere said.
'I'm grateful—every wonderful thing that comes my way—it's beyond anything I ever imagined was a possibility for me.'
At this moment, Carrere is taking the reins of her career. Besides recently pitching a television show she's working on with a few girlfriends that she hopes to film in Hawaii, she's busy working on her one-woman show.
''Songs of Love and Heartache' ... It's basically from Honolulu to Hollywood and back again,' she said.
'I'm using show tunes, original songs, as well as standards to tell the story of what it was like moving out here at 17 and how confusing and terrifying it was sometimes and coming out the other end.'
Then there are the life lessons she's eager to share with others coming up behind her in Hollywood—or any industry.
'I wish I had known earlier my own worth because I feel like I put up with a lot of nonsense and let people take more from me than they gave in many different instances,' she said. 'I wish I had known that you don't have to be so afraid.
'Work will come, you will find love, you will figure out how to be happy, but you can't hold on to something that's not making you happy.
'And it's a constant recalibration all along the length and breadth of our lives. I'm still figuring it out. I'm seeking out the truth.'