Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with Queen Sugar’s Tina Lifford

Whether she’s writing The Little Book of Big Lies or founding the #InnerFitness Project, Tina Lifford has excelled in all facets of her career.

Currently, she’s captivating audiences as Aunt Vi in Season 6 of Queen Sugar.

Pop Culturalist had the pleasure of speaking with Tina about overcoming stage fright, her multifaceted talent, and Season 6 of Queen Sugar.

PC: How did you discover your passion for storytelling?
Tina: Wow. That takes us all the way back to the second grade. Every summer, my mother would scrape together pennies to enroll me in the Northwestern Theater Presentation series. They would do six plays during the summer. We didn’t have a lot of disposable income, but my mother made it possible for me to go and watch these plays because she knew how much I loved theater.

I knew in the second grade that I wanted to be an actress. When I would leave each one of those summer performances, I would emulate all of the characters and replay the entire play from start to finish until the next one. It drove my family crazy, but that was the beginning of me and storytelling.

PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your career?
Tina: The biggest influence on my career dates back to the fifth grade. I had horrible stage fright. Up until that moment, I was considered a person who was good at a lot of things, certainly in drama. I used to sing, so I took part in a talent show. When I saw that my name was first on the list to perform, I took a gulp of fear. In the hours leading up to the show, the fear took over me. When I stood on the stage, I froze. I froze completely that my teacher had to come to center stage, pick me up, and take me off because I couldn’t move.

I point to that as a huge influence because it was so clear that what I wanted to do with my life was to be an actress. That experience threatened that because I began to have insecurities around auditioning. It forced me to constantly choose between the fear and running that old tape and finding ways to rewire it.

My commitment to not leave the acting piece of my life on the table actually wound up being one of the biggest gifts, because it allowed me to delve deeply into what I’ve now termed as inner fitness.

PC: You’re one of the stars of Queen Sugar. The series has been incredibly well received. What do you think is resonating most with audiences?
Tina: I think it’s the honesty and simplicity. Ava [DuVernay] calls it the extraordinary in ordinary people. Sometimes we forget or become disconnected to how beautiful the story of life is in its simplest forms. There are no car chases. It’s human beings struggling to find their way and family being one of the ways that mitigates that struggle or helps us to endure it—not just endure it, but thrive in spite of it. That’s one of the reasons.

Oprah Winfrey has the power and ability to green light anything that she believes in. When it comes to Aunt Vi, Ava had the vision and the connection that she has with her own mother, who is in her sixties. These two women envisioned a woman in her sixties that was alive and vivacious, full of intention, dreams, and sexuality.

You get to see a woman that we all know. She’s an archetype. She’s in every family. Even if she’s not in the inner family, she’s in that extended family. Yet, we haven’t seen this fully developed woman until Queen Sugar.

PC: Your character has meant a great deal to various communities who often don’t see themselves represented on screen as a fully fleshed-out character. What does it mean to you as an artist to see the response that audiences have had to your character?
Tina: Art is about resonance—allowing yourself to be someplace where something fundamental to your own humanity connects with another, to be in a place where there is this gelled intention and magic happening, where others can see themselves.

It starts from the top with Ava. It started from the top with Oprah and continued with Ava. It continued with Ava’s vision around not just telling great stories, but also being able to change television in ways. It became a platform for all of these women directors to get their foot in the door, and these incredible writers and ensembles. That’s a lot of people who are committed to resonating a level of truth.

PC: Having played this character for several years, has anything surprised you about her journey? What’s been the biggest thing you’ve learned about yourself playing her?
Tina: She surprised me all the time. I made decisions as an actor. Then I would get to set, I would go to play that note that made so much sense in my head, but then it became something different, something richer, something more resonant of Aunt Vi. I am very aware of our differences. Aunt Vi starts off far more judgmental and in her boxes than is the case with me. I had to make room for her linear and judgmental nature. She taught me about unconditional love and what it looks like in action.

PC: Season 6 is currently airing. What can fans expect? Is there a particular episode/moment that you’re really excited for your fans to see?
Tina: A lot happens with the relationships that we’ve established over the past five seasons. There are some surprising twists and turns, and they all make sense, but you don’t see them coming. Another thing is that this season, each character breaks free in some way that I find interesting and compelling.

To keep up with Tina, follow her on Twitter and Instagram. Watch Queen Sugar every Tuesday at 8/7c on OWN.

Photo Credit: Marcus Owens