Popular for her character ‘Angela’ in Tyler Perry’s ‘Why Did I Get Married’, American actress, director and producer Tasha Smith is as real as they come. Essence describes her as ”a walking testimony of a success in Hollywood.” In this interview, she shares ”candidly about her rough upbringing and past relationship hurdles, her new approach to dating as a Christian, and devoting her life to helping other actors walk in their purpose.”
You’ve spoken very candidly about how important God and spirituality is to you. What has it been like dating as a single Christian woman?
Well, I’m not as religious as I used to be. I’ll put it to you like that. There was a time where I was so religious that I was no earthly good. With women, especially us Christian women, we think every guy we’re dating is supposed to be our husband. But there’s a process to success. There’s a process to relationships. Sometimes, we block the opportunity to learn ourselves and who we are in a relationship by not allowing ourselves to date. I don’t mean you’ve got to have sex with everyone you date. But you can’t think that every man you meet is the man that you’re supposed to marry. Maybe that person is just someone in your life for a season that’s going to help you learn and grow as a woman. Don’t deprive yourself of the opportunity.
I was celibate for eight years, and then I got married to a very nice person, but it just didn’t work out. And then I met a con artist and that [marriage] ended up being annulled based on fraud. And now, I’m just enjoying my life as a woman and dating. I’m not putting pressure on myself when it comes to dating and I’m not putting pressure on anyone else. I may not necessarily say, ‘hey, you gotta stop dating other people’ because guess what? I don’t know if you and I are going to work out. So we can date loosely and we can get to know each other.
Would you be open to getting married again?
I’ll tell you what I ain’t gonna marry – a broke brother. I’m not trying to clean nobody up – you gotta be cleaned already. Listen honey, I’m too old to be taking care of a grown man, you know? I’m just more interested in a person being on the same level, if not higher, than what I’m on. As I’ve gotten older, having a partner that is driven in that way is more than love. Love is a part of it, but it there to be compatibility at the same time. I’m open to marriage, but it’s not on the forefront of what I need to have right now. I’m just dating openly, and I’m probably the perfect person to date because I’m not into putting any pressure on you or myself.
What would you like your legacy to ultimately be?
I would like it to be that she cared about our artist community and she created a safe place for artists to grow and learn. I want to be a part of the narrative that we have and that’s where acting, directing and producing comes from. The images that are put out there creatively about us. I’m very, very committed and interested in that. I care about us as a people and a community. It breaks my heart when I see us in our community embracing violence against one another. I want to help unlock the dreams, courage and faith that will inspire a person to pursue their life and not feel that the pursuit of their dreams would mean to diminish the person next to them. If you have faith and courage, if you are fearless and inspired about the gifts and talents that God has placed in you, there is no room for fear and anger – which I believe is connected to the violence that happens against one another within our community. A lot of people grow up afraid. They lack resources to deal with their mental health, their creative health, their creative spirit. If I can be a bridge to help someone get from one place to another, then I feel God will say to me, ‘well done.’
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Culled from Essence
