Here’s a guide to the career of Tia Carrere, arguably best known for her villain role in True Lies. The Hawaiian-born Carrere launched her career with designs on becoming a singer, and after moving to Los Angeles and finding work as a model, she started her acting career with small roles in movies and TV. Some of her most notable appearances include episodes of Airwolf, a recurring role on General Hospital and The A-Team. She was set to become a regular cast member on the latter after appearing in the season 4 finale, but her duties on General Hospital prevented this.
After further TV work like Friday the 13th: The Series – where Cronenberg directed an episode – Tia Carrere became a regular presence on the big screen. She played Dolph Lundgren’s love interest in 1991 action movie Showdown In Little Tokyo, but her breakthrough came with 1992’s Wayne’s World. She played Cassandra Wong in the movie, the lead singer of a rock band who falls in love with Mike Myers’ title character.
The comedy was a shock success, leading to a sequel arriving shortly after in 1993. For there, Carrere began appearing in lead roles in movies like Rising Sun – a thriller starring Wesley Snipes and Sean Connery – and Treacherous, in addition to appearing in an episode of Tales From The Crypt.
True Lies Is Tia Carrere’s Most Famous Role
![Tia Carrere Movie & TV Roles: Where You Know The True Lies Villain](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Tia-Carrere-true-lies-juno.jpg)
Tia Carrere got to channel her inner Bond villain with 1994’s True Lies (where Bill Paxton stole the show). She played an art dealer named Juno in the James Cameron blockbuster, who is in league with terrorists. Carrere was clearly having a blast co-starring alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger, but sadly her follow-ups movies like Pauly Shore’s Jury Duty or parody High School High were box-office duds. The actor jumped back and forth between movies and TV during the late ’90s, including guest appearances on fashion sitcom Veronica’s Closet and Hercules, in addition to playing the villain role in fantasy adventure Kull the Conqueror. The latter was nearly the third entry in the Conan The Barbarian series until Arnie passed.
1999 saw the debut of Relic Hunter, a Tomb Raider-inspired adventure series that cast Tia Carrere as the title character. Her character Sydney is a professor of Ancient Studies, but while she knows her history and relics, she can also throw a punch. The early 2000s was a busy period for Carrere – who wants Wayne’s World 3 to happen – and in addition to Relic Hunter, her voice was heard in the animated hit Lilo & Stitch and its sequels and animated show Duck Dodgers. In the late 2000s, Carrere was a contestant on Dancing with the Stars and made guest appearances on The OC, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Nip/Tuck, in addition to movies like 2009’s Wild Cherry.
While most of her work has been in films and television, Tia Carrere has a couple of notable video game credits. She played a major role in 1995’s interaction movie adventure The Daedalus Encounter and voiced Lin in the 2006 classic Saint’s Row. In the 2010s, she continued mixing film and TV parts, with appearances on Family Guy and Hawaii Five-0, plus films like the poorly received Showdown in Manila and Tom and Jerry: Spy Quest. One of her most recent roles was as Danger Queen on the RuPaul series AJ and the Queen.
Next: Why True Lies 2 Never Happened