Tamara Tunie
Tamara Tunie
Tamara Renee Tunieis an American film, stage, and television actress, director, and producer. She is best known for her portrayal of attorney Jessica Griffin on the CBS soap opera As the World Turns, and medical examiner Melinda Warner on the NBC police drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. From 2000 to 2007, she appeared on both series simultaneously. Tunie has also appeared in film, most notably playing the key supporting role of Margaret Thomason in the 2012 film Flight...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionActress
Date of Birth14 March 1959
CountryUnited States of America
I've lived in New York for thirty years now, but I'm a proud Pittsburgher, and home is home. My family's still in Pittsburgh.
I'm Irish on St. Patrick's Day. I'm Italian on Columbus Day. I'm a New Yorker every day.
I wanted to make a home that was similar to the kind of home that my mother made. To be able to create something like that in my adopted city, New York City, one of the toughest cities on the planet, is really special.
When I first got to New York, all I did was musicals. After a few years I had to make a conscious choice to close the door on musicals, because I was getting pigeon-holed as a musical theater performer.
Working on a film is so great because you have the luxury of more time when you're on a movie than when you're on television.
My Native American heritage was not embraced by our family, and we grew up African-American, so I didn't have a lot of access or history to that line of my family.
The stage and working in front of a camera are two completely different mediums. Each requires different techniques.
The key is allowing your partner to be who they are and not having expectations that really have nothing to do with the person you married.
Living in New York, for me at least, just keeps it very real and keeps my feet firmly planted on the ground.
I've been in this business a long time, and I'm very clear on what is real and what is fleeting.
I've always come into a show when the show was already up and running.
I was very good in all the maths and sciences.
I want to play Eva Peron. I've already done a lot of Shakespeare, but I'd like to do Lady Macbeth.
I still enjoy doing the things I've always done, like going to a monthly dance party at a club downtown.