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  Tia Carrere : PREVUE Iinterviews the
Globe Trotting RELIC HUNTER
Don't you wish all your professors looked like Tia Carrere?
As sexy Sydney Fox, a professor of history, she travels the world mixing martial arts and
exploration on the syndicated series Relic Hunter. Carrere, who hails from Hawaii, burst into
mainstream consciousness as Dana Carvey’s obsession in Wayne’s World, and she’s been
many a fan’s obsession ever since. PREVUE, sat down with the globetrotting actress as
she was preparing to jet off to Spain for another season of filming on Relic Hunter,
to find out about the show and her upcoming projects.
PREVUE: Looking back on this year, what's it been like?
CARRERE: It's been a really exciting and amazing year. Just recently
I went from a full day on the set of Relic Hunter, where I got there at
5:30 AM, to singing at a tribute for Peter Gabriel that night.
PREVUE: What's up next?
CARRERE: I'm getting ready to travel to Sevilla, Spain for more
shooting on Relic Hunter.
PREVUE: Will we see another season of the series after this one??
CARRERE: I'm thinking yes, because that's the way that syndicated television works.
I'm pretty certain that they will go for one more season. The whole business of it means
that they want to get either 66 or 88 episodes, then you can see it on your neighborhood
station three times a year without repeats.
PREVUE: Would next season be the last?
CARRERE: That's what I would be hoping.
PREVUE: Why is that?
CARRERE: I love it but it's exhausting. It's a lot of work and a very long time commitment.
There are other things that I would like to do. I did features before and I quite like the
schedule of a feature. You have more time to explore deeply the things that you are
acting out. You have maybe a month commitment or a three-month commitment and
then you get to come back home.
PREVUE: How does that differ from your work on Relic Hunter?
CARRERE: We travel all over the world for ten months a year.
PREVUE: Is there a home base?
CARRERE: We spend six months in Toronto and the past few years, the remaining 3 1/2 months
were in Paris. This year, we start in Toronto and then we're off to Sevilla, Spain and Bath, England.
PREVUE: What do you especially enjoy about Relic Hunter?
CARRERE: Getting to bring my family with me. My mother came with me the first two years
to Toronto and France. This year, she's coming with me to Spain and England. This year, I'll
also bring my younger sister and her boyfriend to Amsterdam. It's a nice benefit.
PREVUE: So what is like for a Hawaiian to be living in a cold city like Toronto?
CARRERE: (laughing) I don't know any Hawaiians living in Toronto. Mom and I are the only
two crazy ones! Anyway, once it really starts getting cold we leave. The first time I ever
filmed in Toronto, back in 1986, I filmed in February and I didn't leave my hotel once. It
was brutal! It was so cold, blustery and blizzardy. I thought what a horrible place to live!
Now, that I've been here longer, I really like the neighborhoods and the people.
PREVUE: What's the most demanding thing about being on the Relic Hunter?
CARRERE: The most demanding thing is being away from home. It's all consuming and takes
up all of your time. That being said, lately I've been able to reintroduce my music. I you
work from 6:00AM to 8:00 PM on Relic Hunter and then I come home and do another
job, which is working on my music.
PREVUE: Are you planning a follow-up to your album Dreams?
CARRERE: Yes, it's more alternative singer/songwriter music, like a Paula Cole.
It's lyrically driven.
PREVUE: Where are you recording it?
CARRERE: My boyfriend and I have set up a whole studio in the house in Toronto that
we live in. We're both perspiring?! musicians.
PREVUE: Tell us about Relic Hunter's action sequences,
do you do your own stunts?
CARRERE: Yes, I do all my own fighting. I have a stunt person who does the
cartwheels and flips, but all the fighting is me.
PREVUE: What will we see coming up this season?
CARRERE: I've got a great fight with Joanie "Chyna" Laurer from the WWF.
We had this amazing fight with sword and spears.
PREVUE: Is she really as big as she looks on TV?
CARRERE: Yes! She's really tall and broad.
PREVUE: You are providing a voice for Disney's Lilo & Stitch,
what can you tell us about it?
CARRERE: It's so cute! It's set in Hawaii and I play the guardian of my little sister. I've
been working on it for two years. It's a much heavier film than you have ever seen from
Disney, in that the girl's parents aren't present. You just sort of infer that it's the older
sister taking care of the younger sister. I'm working hard, trying to get jobs, and
there is a social services worker checking on the welfare of the child. I'm constantly
trying to keep my head above water, so that Social Services doesn't take my sister away!
PREVUE: Social Services? That's a bit different than your
average Disney film.
CARRERE: It's very modern, and it's also very charming, and very poignant.
PREVUE: So how does it feel to be a Disney character?
CARRERE: It's great! I've always wanted to be a Disney cartoon character. I was really
upset when Mulan when slipped through there.
PREVUE: Did you hope to get that?
CARRERE: I had heard about Mulan and thought it would be great. It has the same casting
director as Lilo & Stitch and apparently she tried to get in touch with me, but I was in
Slovakia shooting a film. When I walked in for the first session of Lilo & Stitch, she told
me that she had tried to get in touch with me for Mulan. In the end, it all came around for a
great project. Anyway, I'm more from Hawaii than I am for Mainland China. Besides, I
get to sing in it too! I get to sing a Hawaiian song to my little sister.
PREVUE: What do you sing?
CARRERE: I get to sing Aloha O`e, which is a traditional Hawaiian song that was
written by Queen Liliuokalani, the last Hawaiian monarch.
PREVUE: With all your travels, where are you recording Lilo & Stitch?
CARRERE: While I'm working on Relic Hunter, they'll pop in and say, "we've just got to
get a line, or two." I was working out at rock quarry, an hour-and-a-half outside Toronto
and there was huge machinery passing by. Now, my trailer's wonderful, but it's not
exactly soundproof. We had this whole recording set-up in the trailer and we were
waiting for the rock quarry trucks to pass, so we can get one clean line.
PREVUE: They actually use that line and it's not redubbed later?
CARRERE: No, no, they are amazing. They piece it all together. Jason Scott Lee was in
London, so the directors and producers flew to London to record him there. When I was in
Paris, they needed a line, so they could show the animation to their hire-ups at Disney,
so I was in Paris, so they had to come to Paris.
PREVUE: Do they use your physical movements at all?
CARRERE: Although the character girl doesn't look like me, they videotape me as I am
speaking, so they can see how my face moves, how my mouth moves.
PREVUE: How is working for Disney?
CARRERE: It's a wonderful atmosphere, very relaxed.
They crack a joke, I crack a joke.
PREVUE: Have you had any input into your character?
CARRERE: I really get to inject a lot into it. I've felt very free to inject some
Hawaiianisms into the film. In Hawaii, there is a dialect we speak called Pidgin. It's a
bit like broken English, but it's not that you are saying different words, it's just the way
that you say them. It has a different intonation. I asked them if they wanted Pidgin,
since this was supposed to be Hawaiian, and they said "sure, as long as we can
understand it." So, I started improvising some dialog. I gave them some local
Hawaiianisms that would still hold up to the general public, but that local
Hawaiians would get a chuckle because it is so "on the money" for local people.
PREVUE: You know, when I see Relic Hunter I can't help notice a
little similarity to a certain big-budget film. So tell me, what did you
think of Lara Croft: Tomb Raider?
CARRERE: (laughing) I thought they saw Relic Hunter and took notes!
© 2001 PREVUE Magazine. All rights reserved. Photos: © 2001
Fireworks 2001. All rights reserved. This material may not
be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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