German-born, American-grown actress Tia Mowry holds a special place in the hearts of many of us who remember her turn as one half of the twin duo in the family comedy “Sister, Sister.” She then went on to the memorable role of med student Melanie Barnett on the comedy-drama “The Game.” Now, Mowry has progressed to playing a mom—a role that she landed in real life a few years ago when she had her now 4-year-old son, Cree. On the TV Land sitcom “Instant Mom,” Mowry plays Stephanie, a blogger and party girl who falls in love and marries Charlie Phillips. Charlie is older and has three—yes, three—children. So Stephanie has to grow up real fast and find a way to tone her partying down.
Asked why she believes producers thought she was perfect for this role, she replied that, for one thing, she is actually a mom. Also, she says that Stephanie is a “very relatable, vulnerable woman, and that’s how I am in real life. I am not afraid to tell people what I go through.” She adds, “I am also a very passionate person as well. No matter what I do, I give 110 percent because I am so passionate.”
As successful as “Instant Mom” has been over the past few years, one would think that Mowry would rest on her laurels a bit. However, that is not the case. She also has a cooking and lifestyle program on the Cooking Channel. Called “Tia Mowry at Home.” Mowry said that the show “came about out of a need and, again, out of passion. I’m a mom now, and when you become a mom, you become a part of this society, of this community. A lot of moms talk about their challenges. You know there’s breastfeeding, there’s education, there’s how do you balance career and marriage. All of that. And I found that there were a lot of moms who would talk about cooking and a lot of moms would feel guilty sometimes because they wouldn’t have a lot of time to cook for their families, and they felt that they weren’t providing their families and their children with the best nutrients and food that they wanted to.”
One interesting aspect of the development of “Tia Mowry at Home” came from one of her own personal medical battles. Mowry had endometriosis. According to webmd.com, “Endometriosis is the development of uterine-lining tissue outside the uterus. Symptoms may include abdominal pain, heavy periods and infertility.” Mowry decided to use what she learned while struggling with the disease to help others. She said, “Where endometriosis comes in is that I really saw how food can really be medicine and how food can cure. And after going through endometriosis myself and seeing the benefits of healthy eating, I wanted to make sure that my whole family started to benefit from that perspective.”
Food, however, had always been a passion of hers. “I love going to the farmers’ market and picking up organic produce and cooking great meals for my family,” she said. “And so I was like, if I can do it, then you can do it too. So maybe it’s not that you can’t do it, maybe you just don’t know how to do it. So I wanted to be the outlet and an example that the kitchen doesn’t have to be so intimidating.” Thus, “Tia Mowry at Home” was born. The show also has loads of clips and recipes corresponding to each episode on its page on the Cooking Channel website.
As for the other half of this famous sister duo, Mowry explains that she recently collaborated on a book with her sister, Tamera. “We do have a book series that’s out right now called ‘Twintuition,’ and that was great working with her on that.” The first book in the young adult-oriented series, “Double Vision,” was released just this past spring. The main characters are tween twins (who look suspiciously similar to Tia and Tamera) with the ability to see into the future. Though she enjoyed working on that project with her sister, she admits that she misses working with her on acting projects. “What I miss the most is we creatively are such a great unit. She has some great things to offer, I have some great things to offer and it’s almost like yin and yang. It just becomes this perfect balance.”
“Tia Mowry at Home” returns to the Cooking Channel Nov. 4 at 8 p.m. ET. Catch “Instant Mom” Saturday nights at 8 p.m. ET on TV Land.