Christina Milian Changed Last Name From Flores After Casting Directors Rejected Afro-Latina Performer
Christina Milian swapped her last name from Flores when she started, after casting directors refused to let her try out for parts because she was Afro-Cuban. She talked about this…
Christina Milian swapped her last name from Flores when she started, after casting directors refused to let her try out for parts because she was Afro-Cuban. She talked about this choice on Jan. 20 in an interview.
"It was absolutely a business decision," she said. "I'm Afro-Cuban — especially in the early phases of my career, you didn't see as many of our faces on TV."
The 44-year-old was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. She got turned down again and again when she used her birth name at tryouts. "A lot of auditions I would go for… I would try to go in as Latina, but my skin color didn't really match the last name to what was appealing at that time," she explained. "Then, when I was going for an African American role, they're like, 'Flores, oh, she's Hispanic. She can't even come to this audition.'"
She grabbed her mother's maiden name, Milian, after watching a friend win with the same trick. It worked.
"Same picture, same headshot, changed the last name to Milian, and do you know, overnight… We sent it to the same casting directors," she said. "I booked TV shows immediately."
She doesn't feel good about hiding who she is to get jobs. "It's not something that I'm proud of, that being the reason," she added. "But I'm happy we see more Black Latina faces on television now."
One of her first credited parts was a 1996 episode of Sister, Sister, where she appeared as Christina Flores. By 1997, she used Milian on Smart Guy.
She broke through in 2003 when she starred with Nick Cannon in Love Don't Cost A Thing. Her career has spanned pop music, TV, and movies — including hits like "Dip It Low" and the recent Netflix movie Meet Me Next Christmas.
Hollywood has gotten better since those early days. Zoe Saldaña became the highest-grossing actor of all time not long ago. Other Black Latina performers like Gina Torres, Rosario Dawson, Tatyana Ali, the late Naya Rivera, and Ariana DeBose have built successful careers in the business.
