Uniformity and high gloss typify the usual guests on TV talk shows. So no wonder the Mowry twins stand out, from their mocha complexions to the way they end each other's sentences or speak as a chorus when talking earnestly and passionately about their favorite topic.
The Big Guy.
"The world has this way of seeing God as judgmental and mean," said Tamera.
"But he's full of love," said Tia. "He's full of mercy and . . . "
"His mercy endures forever," said Tamera.
Instead of talk-show cameras, the revved-up Mowrys this time were in the presence of a newspaperman. He had arranged to meet them in a bustling coffeehouse near their home in an outback of Los Angeles County so that he could behold in person their zeal for things spiritual and discover how they cope in a business that many devout Christians regard as profane.
Tia and Tamera are best known as stars of "Sister, Sister," just about playing themselves as identical twins in a cheery sitcom that ran a couple of years on ABC before a 1995 move to the WB, where its string now appears at an end. And where their show has been the lead-in for "The Smart Guy," a comedy starring their little brother, Tahj.
There's talk of the twins being in a possible "Sister, Sister" spinoff, but Tia and Tamera see movies as their future as they near their 21st birthdays, prepare moving from their parents' home to their own place nearby, and plan separating professionally.
They'd love having recurring roles together on the CBS hit "Touched by an Angel," though. Instead of a halo, you could almost see the lightbulb click on over their heads. "I could be your angel," Tia said to Tamera. "Yes!" Tamera said. "And you could come to me from time to time."
A done deal. As a coffee machine squealed in the background, it all seemed possible.
Although the sisters don't evangelize or aggressively push their faith on others, they're such a kick and so vivacious and seductively sincere about "the Jesus in us" that, after a few minutes with them, even a heathen might consider signing up.
Their own renaissance came at age 8, when the family was still living in Honolulu. They were attending church where their mother, a reborn Christian, was in the choir. Tamera: "I remember the preacher asking, 'Who wants to know Jesus for their personal savior?' " Both girls went forward.
Later that afternoon, they were napping in their room when Tia felt the presence of God and began singing a hymn. "And I started crying. Just 8 years old, mind you, and just crying." Tamera heard her, and began singing, too.
"I felt peaceful," Tia said. "It felt warm, beautiful, like no other feeling in the world. I felt I was chosen by God." Tamera, too. "From then on, we knew that we were saved. We knew that Jesus was our father. But we really didn't know him until we were 14 years old, because that's when we started, like, actually talking to him and reading the word."
And bringing it to others? Yes, but. . . .
"There's a stereotype," said Tia. "A lot of people think that Christians are all about judging, condemning, putting down people, and saying people are going to hell, and all that sort of stuff."
"Like our ways are right, and God is on my side and not yours, and I ahm bettuh than you," said Tamera, slipping into a la-di-da British accent.
"We're not like that," said Tia.
Amen.
So how do they "spread the good news," as they put it? Team Tia-Tamera flashed that look. "What's a better way . . . ," asked Tia. "Than television?" the twins added together.
"We use our celebrity status to speak about God, because, you know, you're everywhere when you're on TV," said Tamera. "That's how God is using us. So we're on a talk show, and we start talking about our lives."
Oh, yes, their lives.
The Pepperdine sophomores joke about their reluctance to move away from their parents and two brothers. Their mother, who is also their manager, "told us we had to be out by April," said Tamera. "She wants us to grow," said Tia.
If the twins are right about some in Hollywood seeing them as corny, let's hear it for corny.
"The Bible says you will be persecuted," said Tamera. "We go into Christianity thinking that, so when it happens, I just know that I am doing my job."
For instance?
