Tamera Mowry-Housley brings her charismatic energy to Hallmark Channel’s original movie, Dream Moms, where she portrays Danielle Smith. Danielle had once been an optimistic performer going on auditions to achieve her Broadway dreams. Sadly, life got in the way, and too many failed auditions brought Danielle on a different journey with a loving husband and daughter, but realizing that she had ignored her own dreams and happiness for far too long. Throughout the movie, Danielle re-discovers her passion for what she loves.
Understanding the real-life balance between work and family, Tamera Mowry-Housley discusses why she felt drawn to the role of Danielle and what she loves about Dream Moms.
Culturess: You do a lot of singing in this movie. How did you prepare for singing and learning the songs?
Tamera Mowry-Housley: I didn’t. I’ve always sang. I did pageants when I was younger, and you know how you have a talent category? I would always sing. I never really took singing lessons. I just was always the girl singing in our garage to hear the acoustics, singing in my shower. I did do The Masked Singer. That was always one of my dreams, and I was the sea shell, and that really inspired me to start pursuing it.
I was in a singing group when I was younger. I think I was fourteen. It was very short-lived. It was called “Voices,” and then I sang a little bit on Sister, Sister, so I really didn’t do anything to prepare. It was just something that I always loved to do. I used to dance when I was younger. I was in a dance group called “Fancy Prancy Dancers” when I was like eight. So when I got the call if I wanted to do a film about singing and dancing, I was like, absolutely, I guess I’ll just jump right back in there. And I did!
Culturess: There is dancing in this movie too. What went into the choreography for the routines?
Tamera Mowry-Housley: We had a wonderful choreographer. Her name is Melina, and she’s awesome. She was very patient, and she’s just a great teacher. She taught us to add a lot of our own personality into it. I danced when I was younger. That’s one thing that I did do. I remembered a sashay, a slide, a kick here, and it just kinda brought back my childhood. It was like I was reliving it all over again. But, again, it was one of those things we stepped right into it. We only have about fifteen days to shoot these films, so we had about four days to learn all the singing, all the choreography. We just went for it.
Culturess: Part of Danielle’s arc is realizing she can want things for herself. Can you talk about the importance of that realization?
Tamera Mowry-Housley: I know. I feel like sometimes, as moms, we tend to put our needs, our wants on the back burner because we’re always taking care of our children, our family. That’s what we are supposed to do. That’s what we do. As a mom myself, I enjoy it. But at the same time, I think it’s important for us not to lose our identity in who we are as people and who we were before once you become a parent. It’s very easy to do so. But I think it’s important not to. I think moms and parents, in general, deserve to be a whole individual as well. I feel when you are tapped into your dreams, your goals; you help inspire and encourage your children to do so as well, or maybe even your spouse.
What I love about this film and its message is that it’s never too late to tap back into that. The beautiful thing about being a woman is that we can wear so many hats, right? I feel like we shouldn’t limit ourself to one of those hats. It might not be easy, but never give up on it. Wherever there’s a will, there’s a way, and everything somehow works itself out. Just stay with it and have an amazing support group.
Culturess: Danielle’s moment of realization of putting herself last comes when speaking to her daughter. Why do you think that was such an important scene?
Tamera Mowry-Housley: It was an important scene because her daughter realized that. Her daughter realized that for so many years, Danielle took care of her daughter and lived vicariously through her and her dreams. But now, her daughter is about to achieve all of her dreams, and she’s able to look at her mom and be like, ‘What about yours? What is that teaching me if you’re sacrificing who you are for me? Mom, I know that sounds heroic, but it’s not.’ To hear that coming from your own daughter, it was like, ‘Well, wait a minute, I’m doing all this for you.’ And she’s like, ‘Well, what about you?’
So it was one of my favorite scenes to shoot because I have a daughter. She’s not sixteen yet. But I would never want my daughter to feel that way. I believe we all make sacrifices in our lives, right? But I don’t think we should ever have to sacrifice who we truly are and what’s going on inside there because, ultimately, it may come out in ways we may not want them to. Maybe not the most positive as well.
Culturess: When you were creating the character, what were you thinking about?
Tamera Mowry-Housley: When I take on a role, I always like to see myself in the role. I believe the story is about owning your uniqueness. I believe each and every one of us have a gift, and we’re unique. So the only way that’s gonna make Danielle stand out is if I bring my uniqueness to her. That’s what I like to do. I like to picture myself and how I would act in that exact situation, and take on some personal experiences that I can pull on, what I’ve learned from, and apply it to the scenes. Danielle was important to me to play this role because I saw a little bit of myself in the role.
I was a talk show host for seven years. I absolutely loved it. I actually won a Daytime Emmy from it. Awesome. Wonderful. Just like Danielle. She has a beautiful family. They love each other. They’re very supportive. They are there for each other. But there was something inside me that I felt was missing. It was my first love, my passion. I didn’t have enough time to tap into that, and that’s what you see happening with Danielle. She’s put her love for the arts on the back burner but lived vicariously through her daughter, and because of that, she felt like something was missing.
Culturess: Danielle and Claire grow to create this sweet friendship. What went into building that?
Tamera Mowry-Housley: What’s so funny is I believe that Chelsea and I, Chelsea plays Claire, we naturally stepped into this immediate friendship because we had to lean on each other the moment we met each other. We did all of the singing and the dancing first. So it was one of those things where it was like, ‘Girl, let’s hold each other’s hands and go for the ride.’ We naturally built this friendship, so we were able to go backwards with it. We immediately connected because we were kind of forced to. But I’m so grateful. She’s a wonderful human being and a wonderful mom. I got to see how she moms, and it’s beautiful. She is a woman of strength. We’re friends now so it was very easy.
Culturess: Danielle’s original dream was to be on Broadway. Was that ever a dream of yours also?
Tamera Mowry-Housley: It was, and to be honest, I’m still afraid. I want to do it. That’s how I started my career. I was in an off-Broadway play called Oliver Twist, and Broadway, still to this day, terrifies me. So my husband was like, ‘You know you gotta do it then. You gotta do a Broadway stint. You gotta do something just for like three or four weeks,’ and I’m still like, ‘I don’t know. I’m not ready.’ But it would be fun.
Culturess: What are your favorite moments from the movie?
Tamera Mowry-Housley: Oh my gosh, anything with the singing and dancing. I just absolutely loved it. I feel like I just came alive because it brought me back to my childhood and how I started my career. I also loved the scenes with my husband. Roger Cross is such an amazing actor. He made it like butter. It was so smooth. It was easy. He made it fun with his choices that he would make and acting alongside him, it’s fun when your partner just does something that you don’t really expect, but then you just play along with it, so yeah, he’s fantastic. My daughter too. We had fun. We have a natural chemistry off-screen as well.
Culturess: What do you want viewers to take away from this movie?
Tamera Mowry-Housley: It’s not too late to pick back up your dream. It’s not too late to start again. Just because you have children or you have a family, it doesn’t mean that there aren’t other aspects of who you are as an individual that you should shut off. You shouldn’t limit yourself. Obviously, your family is, and that’s what this movie talks about; your family is your priority, meaning they’re an importance. You can’t just neglect your family. Have those conversations where everyone in your family can feel fulfilled. Wherever there’s a will, there’s a way. Even if it starts with if you always wanted to be a dancer. It starts with taking dance classes. You can allot that time, just that hour, for you to be creative in that space. Don’t limit yourself, and see where it takes you from there.
