When Audrey Lee Janairo, a computer supervisor, and Alexander Janairo, a banker, welcomed their daughter into their Honolulu family, they were combining their Chinese, Filipino and Spanish ancestry into one of the most widely recognized American actresses of the 1990s, Tia Carrere. Being an actress in the 1980s and 1990s was tough, and if you didn’t fit the blonde model, it was even more difficult. However, Carrere took on roles that broke through limited offerings for women who didn’t fit that image and along the way helped those of us who were teens and children during those decades think of different roles for ourselves.
While Carrere attended the all-girls school Sacred Hearts Academy, a former Catholic academy, she also received training as a singer. Her life took a turn when she was eliminated from the television show Star Search in 1985 but later met a producer at a local grocery store in nearby Waikiki. While her first role from that meeting would not be released until 1988, that small success fueled her desire for more gigs, so she moved to Los Angeles. Initially she worked as a model but quickly started landing acting roles on such 1980s hits as Air Wolf, General Hospital, The A-Team, MacGyver, and Married with Children. Sometimes she was cast in stereotypical Asian or Hawaiian roles, but at other times she was the best actor for that part.
Carrere originally wanted to be a singer, so her breakout role in the 1992 movie Wayne’s World as rocker Cassandra fit with that goal, even if her career has primarily stayed in the acting lane. She did all of her own singing in both of the Wayne’s World movies, so you can hear her voice on those soundtracks.
Carrere never stopped singing. Her first solo album was in 1993 after the success of Wayne’s World. For her next four albums, she embraced her heritage and released Hawaiian music albums, two of which won Grammys in 2008 and 2010, while another two have also been nominated for that prestigious award. Her voice can be heard on a total of nine soundtracks of television shows and movies, as well.
Carrere has acted in over 100 movies, videos, video games, and television series as both a live and a voice actor. She has been nominated for a handful of acting awards including the MTV Movie + TV Award, Saturn Award, and ALMA Award. She has also produced four projects so far.
It was her ALMA-nominated role as leading actress for the Canadian TV series Relic Hunter that really showed a different type of woman to the world. Carrere played Professor Sydney Fox, a rogue archaeologist who leads her graduate student Nigel on adventures to save ancient artifacts from greedy treasure seekers. While the character was undeniably sexy, it was her intelligence and capability paired with her sense of right that was inspiring to many girls and women who thought that academia or adventure were outside our career choices.
As happens with many women actors, getting older has proven to be another challenge to finding roles, yet Carrere keeps working when she can, even participating in two reality shows, including The Celebrity Apprentice in 2006 with then-private-businessman Donald Trump. While Carrere is not normally known for being outspoken on political or social matters, she has expressed disappointment in the 2016 presidential election in 2017 and in the Trump presidency in 2019.
Carrere has spoken out about sexism and sexual harassment in Hollywood in a 2017 radio interview. In a 2019 interview, Carrere wished that more Asian and Pacific islander stories were being told but is happy that streaming seems to have opened the door to more diverse stories and storytellers. By speaking out and continuing to act, Carrere is working for change.
Today Carrere continues to act while being a single parent to her daughter from her second marriage. She also helps run a Girl Scout troop and works with her local PTA (Parent Teacher Association). Throughout her career she has supported charitable causes ranging from combating abuse to supporting refugees. Her next television series will be Netflix’s AJ and the Queen, airing next week.