Christina Milian: She Be Cool

She admits that she's nervous and talks a mile a minute in interviews but this just endears us to petite, sweet entertainer Christina Milian who seems genuinely awed by her recent success. The young singer/actress/TV and theater star began her musical career singing with Ja Rule and co-writing the Jennifer Lopez hit "Play". Combining Urban, Latin and Pop sounds, the artist has recently scored with her album "It's About Time" and you might have caught her on tour with Usher and Kanye West.

After guesting on such TV hits as "Clueless", "Charmed" and "The Steve Harvey Show" the cutie hit feature films co-starring with her now current boyfriend Nick Cannon in the romance Love Don't Cost a Thing. You'll see her soon as a Texas cheerleader (she had to learn the stunts) being guarded by tough guy Tommy Lee Jones in Man of the House.

Christina is most thrilled to have won the part of up and coming singer Linda Moon in Be Cool, the sequel to Get Shorty. Working with legends like John Travolta was a dream come true for the humble artist. Chatting with the young, perky star in L.A.'s Century City recently was like sitting on the edge of a very dynamic whirlwind! Dressed in black lace top over white camisole, Capri pants and diamond stud earrings, the pony-tailed princess buzzed in, popped down in a chair and was ready to tell all... picture her gesturing with her hands during almost every answer.

TeenHollywood: How did you get this part in Be Cool and talk about the singing combined with the acting.

Christina: I auditioned for the movie. I heard hundreds of girls auditioned; your R&B girls and your rock girls, everybody. My agent called me and told me they were doing the sequel to Get Shorty and John Travolta was doing it and they were looking for an R&B singer and I was like 'oh, that's cool'. Then she said F. Gary Gray is directing it. I've been wanting to meet him for a long time because I really enjoy his work. I decided to go in anyway not thinking I was going to get it and I had to sing. I sang a gospel song and I sang "I Will Always Love You" and I had to act out like four different scenes.

TeenHollywood: When did you think that you might have gotten the part?

Christina: I think, the moment that I sang the gospel song, was the one moment I think Gary and the casting director really got it because the casting director cried and I was like 'yes'! Next thing I know I'm going in for a screen test. F. Gary Gray really helped mould me into this character. He pushed me to be normal because, at the end of the day, Linda Moon and I are very similar. So I got the film and I was really excited about acting and singing one movie.

TeenHollywood: And the cast is pretty good too!

Christina: Yes! I've gotten a lot of scripts where it's a singer in a movie but I always turned them down because I really want to be known as a real actress. With this cast, John Travolta, you're gonna win. I really wanted to push myself to become a better singer. I had to learn to play piano for about three weeks. Acting around all this cast, I had to stay calm and that was hard. I think this has been one of the best opportunities for me because I get to showcase so many talents in one film.

TeenHollywood: There are some great songs in it as well.

Christina: Alicia Keys wrote one of the songs, this song called "Ain't No Reason". Then Will I Am from the Black-Eyed Peas and John Legend wrote another song that's in the movie. And I really pushed myself in the studio to do a really good job so I can try and impress the audience as much as I could as Linda Moon.

TeenHollywood: Do you see parallels between Linda's music experience, her ups and downs and your own?

Christina: Linda is a very humble girl. She's very sweet. She has a dream. She has a passion for music and she's just like a lot of us that move to Hollywood for music. Unfortunately, she ends up stuck in a really bad record deal and eventually she meets Chili (Palmer, John Travolta's character). I moved from Maryland to California to pursue my acting and music career. I met a lot of the Nick Carrs, the Rajis, the Sin LaSalles (users in the music world of the film). I have met each of these characters. And, I've been offered the bad record deals that basically sign away my life, sign away my publishing but, luckily, I didn't sign them.

TeenHollywood: Who, in your life was your musical savior like Chili Palmer is for Linda?

Christina: My Chili Palmer was my mother. Her name is Carmen Milian and she's my manager. Before getting into music, we actually educated ourselves and I went to college for music as a business and learned the business side and she read a lot of books. I think my climb right now is similar to the climb to stardom that Linda Moon is having. My mom has gone out of her way in her personal life. She's been with me on the road. She's had to deal with people giving her the 'that's the mom' and arguing. Just little things as a businesswoman. She's worked really hard for me, taking me under her wing and help get me to the top.

TeenHollywood; Was it amazing to sing with Steven Tyler of Aerosmith?

Christina: Steven Tyler, I love him. He is so cool, so humble, the sweetest guy ever. He's another person, besides John, that I was so nervous about meeting and he was so cool. When I found out we were going to be performing live in Boston in front of 30 thousand people at a real Aerosmith concert, I was really nervous. So, singing the song "Crying", that's one of my favorite songs and I didn't want to screw it up. When it came time, we didn't rehearse it too much because if you overdo it, it's really wack and I'm used to performing anyway. But, by the time I got out on that stage, my confidence could reach the sky and I think having him up there, he really has got this energy about him that really pushes you and the chemistry was like that (snaps her fingers). It was automatic. We shot it three times live and Joe Perry's the bomb too, playing right next to me. I felt like a rock star and I'm officially an Aerosmith groupie now. It was great.

TeenHollywood: Do you have an Aerosmith tattoo?

Christina: It's hidden. They're worth getting a tattoo for.

TeenHollywood: So we hear you have crushes on both Steven Tyler and Brad Pitt. What does Nick think about that?

Christina: (laughs) For both of them he's like 'Ewww'. Of course he wants me to only have a crush on him. He's obviously afraid of me running away with Brad Pitt and the Steven Tyler thing is interesting. I became a groupie once I met him. He's got this thing on stage that's really hot. It's totally different than when you just look at him on television.

TeenHollywood: What was working with Vince Vaughn as a white pimp like?

Christina: Vince Vaughn is goofy. He's a lot of fun because he stays in character all day. When we're on camera, when we're off camera and you know how sleazy he is in the movie. He's got the whole accent and that pimp outfit on. So, in the middle of the day we'd be at lunch or between scenes and all of a sudden he's screaming at me like 'Linda, what u doin'?' I'm like 'whoa'. Okay, I had to get used to it for a second. I was like he's staying in character. Should I stay in character and scream back at him? Eventually I caught on and got in character and I figured it would help him out and it actually inspired me. But, he's funny. He's really funny.

TeenHollywood: Who are some actors you would like to work with?

Christina: Julia Roberts, just because I've admired her work for a long time, and, well Brad Pitt. I think you know my reasons. Then, I really enjoy Scarlett Johansson. I like her. She's young. We're around the same age range and I could see us possibly working together in the future. And, Keira Knightley. I really like her too. I enjoy watching a lot of people my age right now.

TeenHollywood: What advice would you give to someone wanting to follow in your footsteps?

Christina: My advice is to have patience. I've been doing this for twelve years. To focus, because I'm very extremely focused. I enjoy my fun time but I love what I do. Doing my homework, studying on what I do, watching the movies, listening to music, all that inspires me so I focus a lot on that and practice. Even if I don't have the money to take vocal lessons, I'll practice in the house by myself singing out loud. I would also say to educate yourself on everything. Like I said, I took college courses on music as a business, constantly educating myself, looking at albums and paying attention to who produced this and who's at the record label and hustling my way through it and singing any and everywhere. Same thing with acting. It takes a long time even for me to have gotten where I am right now, so patience.

TeenHollywood: How do you conquer being nervous or do you?

Christina: Prayer for me. Because I get nervous all the time. It's weird but I think it's fun and it's refreshing. It's always good to be that way. That keeps me appreciative of everything. I have to meditate. I have to have a little bit of time to myself right before whatever it is that I have to do because most of the time I'm in my head convincing myself to calm down, all right, slow down. You're good. Okay you're fine.

TeenHollywood: What do you think is the key to being cool?

Christina: To me, it's just being comfortable with yourself. John Travolta is really the definition of cool because, not only is he great in all his movies, but, as a person, he's just really cool. He's comforting. He's humble and it's nice to see that. As long as you're comfortable with yourself, that's cool.

TeenHollywood: You just worked with John and then Tommy Lee Jones. What was Man of the House like? How is the experience different from Be Cool?

Christina: Well, Tommy Lee Jones is a little bit more intimidating. He's definitely a cowboy. He's from Texas. I think it was a little hard for him in the beginning just because he's dealing with five girls. But, eventually, he had a comfort level with us. It was almost like he had to treat us like his daughters because he has a daughter. Every now and then, he'd throw out a joke or something. He'd get caught off guard. But he's also really smart. I was very careful not to talk too much. He's actually a really nice guy. He's intimidating but he's nice. Of course, with John, he's got a natural chemistry with everybody. It doesn't matter who it is on the set whether it's the star of the movie or the grip, the make-up person, he greets you from the beginning and he's just as sweet all throughout. I got to know him much better than I did Tommy but they're both cool.

TeenHollywood: What kind of cheerleading do you get to do in Man of the House?

Christina: We're University of Texas cheerleaders and we had to do real deal stunts and everything. They sent us to Austin Texas for four months to shoot and one month of it was all training. We didn't have stunt doubles. The first day they showed us what we had to do. We were like 'ha ha, what are we doing?'. They're like 'you're doing everything'. We were literally stunting. We were being thrown up in the air doing pyramids and all these crazy things. I don't know what's in the movie though. I heard they cut a lot of different things out.

TeenHollywood: What is your personal taste in music?

Christina: It's a little of everything. I have a huge variety I was raised on. I'm Cuban. So we listen to salsa and meringue in the house as well as listening to things like R&B. I grew up on Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson, the Motown oldies, the Beatles, Elvis. My variety is from here to here. Still, to this day I go back and listen to music that inspires me to write now. I usually look back to what I used to listen to.

TeenHollywood: What are your plans for a next album?

Christina: I'm going in the studio at the end of March and working on my next album which is my Sophomore album here and it'll be my Junior album overseas. I'd like to make it more urban crossover. Vocally, I'd really like to push myself on this next one. I'd really like to improve next time around and then write. I really want to give people insight into who I am on this next album. So, every, single song I would prefer to write. I get to work with people like Jay-Z and L.A. Reed now on my next album because I'm signed to Island Def Jam so it's going to be a nice collaborative effort between all three of us.

TeenHollywood: And next in movies?

Christina: I'm reading some scripts so we'll wait and see. Hopefully I'll be shooting another film by the summer.

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Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.