Althea Rae Duhinio Janairo (born January 2, 1967), known professionally as Tia Carrere (), is an American actress and singer who got her first big break as a regular on the daytime soap opera General Hospital.
Carrere starred as Sydney Fox in the television series Relic Hunter, played Cassandra Wong in the feature films Wayne's World and Wayne's World 2; Juno Skinner in True Lies; Nani Pelekai in the Lilo & Stitch animated films and TV series, and Nani's social worker Mrs. Kekoa in the 2025 live-action adaptation; Queen Tyr'ahnee in Duck Dodgers; Richard Lewis' girlfriend, Cha Cha, in Curb Your Enthusiasm; as well as Lady Danger opposite RuPaul in Netflix's AJ and the Queen. Carrere also appeared as a contestant in the second season of Dancing with the Stars and the fifth season of The Celebrity Apprentice. In addition to acting, Carrere has won two Grammy Awards for her music.
Early life Althea Rae Duhinio Janairo was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. She is the daughter of Audrey Lee Janairo, a computer supervisor, and Alexander Janairo, a banker. She is of Filipino and Chinese descent. Her father was born and raised in Cebu.
Carrere attended Sacred Hearts Academy, an all-girls school. She longed to be a singer as a child. Though she was eliminated during the first round of her 1985 Star Search appearance at the age of 18, she was spotted by the parents of a film producer while shopping at a Waikiki grocery store and was cast in the film Aloha Summer. Around this time, she adopted her stage name by using her sister's nickname for her, "Tia", and a variation of the last name "Carrera" in tribute to actress Barbara Carrera.
Film and television career Following this success, Carrere returned to Los Angeles, and after working several months as a model, was hired in early 1985 for her first television role, a guest appearance on an episode of the American series Airwolf; the episode aired in November 1985, after her first on-screen television appearance, in a March 1985 episode of Cover Up. Her first major breakthrough was in the daytime soap opera General Hospital, where she played the role of Jade Soong Chung from 1985 to 1987. She had a guest appearance on The A-Team, which was supposed to lead to her joining the cast; her General Hospital obligations, however, prevented her from joining the team, so her character was dropped after one episode, and was never mentioned again. She also made guest appearances on MacGyver as a karate instructor in the episode "The Wish Child" and later as an assassin in the episode "Murderer's Sky". She also appeared on Anything but Love as the adopted daughter of Marty Gold (Richard Lewis), and on an episode of Married... with Children as Piper Bauman, a modelling rival of Kelly Bundy.
After appearing in the 1991 action films Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man and Showdown in Little Tokyo, she emerged into the public spotlight when cast as Cassandra, a rock singer and love interest of Mike Myers's character, Wayne Campbell, in Wayne's World (1992), a role she reprised the next year in Wayne's World 2. A trained singer, Carrere performed all of her own songs in the first film, and the Wayne's World soundtrack features her vocals. She turned down a role in Baywatch to audition for Wayne's World. In 1992, People named her to its annual "50 most beautiful people" list.
Other roles in prominent films include the parts of wealthy smuggler Juno Skinner in True Lies, a 1994 Arnold Schwarzenegger action film; a mixed African-Japanese computer expert in Rising Sun, a thriller co-written for the screen by Michael Crichton and based on his novel, starring Sean Connery and Wesley Snipes; robber Gina Walker in The Immortals in 1995; and secretary Victoria Chappell in High School High, a 1996 parody. She also starred as Ari, a space marine turned pirate, in the 1995 adventure/puzzle game The Daedalus Encounter. She appeared as the evil witch/queen in the 1997 Universal Films picture Kull the Conqueror, co-starring versus Kevin Sorbo, and starred in late-'90s M&M's commercials as herself. At the end of the decade, she was cast as Ana Ishikawa in the motion picture of the comic book character Shi, which went unproduced.
From 1999 to 2002, Carrere starred as archeology professor Sydney Fox in Relic Hunter, a syndicated action-adventure series reminiscent of Indiana Jones and Tomb Raider. At this time, Carrere was featured in the men's magazine Maxim. Relic Hunter lasted for three contracted television seasons. Carrere then provided the voice of Lilo's sister Nani in the animated film Lilo & Stitch (2002) and its sequels and spinoffs through 2006, later returning in the live-action Lilo & Stitch (2025) as a new character named Mrs. Kekoa, who is Nani's social worker in that film. She also provided the voice of Queen Tyr'ahnee in the Duck Dodgers animated series (2003–2005) and Snookie in the 2005 animated film Aloha, Scooby-Doo!.
She participated as a contestant on the popular reality show Dancing with the Stars, and eventually placed sixth overall. Carrere later participated in the fifth season of The Celebrity Apprentice, but her "apprenticeship" to Donald Trump, the "boss" of the show, was terminated in that season's fifth episode.
Carrere posed nude for the January 2003 issue of Playboy. The photos were republished in the German December 2006 issue of the magazine. She has appeared as a guest star on a number of television shows, including Back to You, Nip/Tuck, and Warehouse 13. She has also appeared in several episodes of season six of Curb Your Enthusiasm as Richard Lewis's girlfriend. In 2020, Carrere played Lady Danger in all ten episodes of the Netflix series AJ and the Queen.
Music career
Carrere also maintains a singing career. In 1993, her first solo album, Dream, produced by Matt Prinz, was released and went platinum in the Philippines. That same year, she was featured on the soundtrack of Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, performing the ending theme, "I Never Even Told You". Carrere then focused on Hawaiian music starting with her second album, Hawaiiana, which was released in June 2007 and featured Grammy Award-winning record producer Daniel Ho accompanying her on slack-key guitar and ukulele. The album was nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award under the category Best Hawaiian Music Album.
In 2009, Carrere served as co-host for the pre-Grammy Awards telecast online event alongside Wayne Brady. She won a Grammy Award in 2009 for her third album, Ikena, and her 2010 album He Nani was also nominated for a Grammy. In 2011, she won her second Grammy Award for her album Huana Ke Aloha.
Personal life Carrere married film producer Elie Samaha in 1992. Samaha and Carrere divorced in February 2000. On November 30, 2002, she married photojournalist Simon Wakelin. They have a son. On April 2, 2010, Carrere filed for divorce in person at Los Angeles County Superior Court. According to court documents, she cited irreconcilable differences as the reason for the divorce and asked for sole physical custody of their child. Their divorce was finalized in August 2010, with the two reportedly sharing custody of their child. , Carrere lives in Los Angeles.
Filmography Film YearTitleRoleNotes1987Zombie NightmareAmy1988Aloha SummerLaniActing debut, filmed in 19841989Fine GoldStella1990EnemyMai ChangDirect-to-video1991Showdown in Little TokyoMinako Okeya1991Harley Davidson and the Marlboro ManKimiko1992Wayne's WorldCassandra Wong1992Little SisterAdrienne1993Rising SunJingo Asakuma1993QuickJanet SakamotoDirect-to-video1993TreacherousDr. Jessica JamisonDirect-to-video1993Wayne's World 2Cassandra Wong1994True LiesJuno Skinner1995Jury DutyMonica Lewis1995The ImmortalsGina WalkerDirect-to-video, also Associate Producer1995Hostile IntentionsNoraDirect-to-video1996Hollow PointDiane Norwood1996High School HighVictoria Chapell1996Natural EnemyChristinaDirect-to-video1997Kull the ConquerorAkivasha1997Top of the WorldRebecca Mercer1998Scar CityCandy199820 DatesHerself Uncredited cameo, also Executive Producer1995My Teacher's WifeVicky Mueller1999Five AcesKaren HaggertyDirect-to-video1999If...Dog...RabbitDirect-to-video, co-executive producer2000Merlin: The ReturnDr. Joan Maxwell2002Lilo & StitchNani Pelekai (voice) A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.2002Meet Prince CharmingSamantha Feld2003Stitch! The MovieNani Pelekai (voice)Direct-to-video2005Aloha, Scooby-Doo!Snookie, Local Woman (voice)2005Back in the DayLoot2005Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a GlitchNani Pelekai (voice)2006Leroy & Stitch2008Dark HoneymoonMiranda2009Wild CherryMs. Jane Haumea2010Hard BreakersJodie2011You May Not Kiss the BrideLani2012Collision CourseKate Parks2013Final RecourseMichelle GainesAlso associate producer2014Gunshot StraightLeanneDirect-to-video2015Pirates Code: The Adventures of Mickey MatsonKelly2015Behind Palm SwingsCherry BombShort film2015Tom and Jerry: Spy QuestJezebel Jade (voice)Direct-to-video2016Business UnusualEllaShort film2016Showdown in ManilaMrs. Catherine Wells2016The GirlMother2017Palm SwingsMs. Cherry Bomb2018The Legend of HallowaiianNana (voice)Direct-to-video2022 Easter Sunday Tita Theresa 2024 Waltzing with Brando Madame Leroy 2025 Lilo & Stitch Mrs. Kekoa 2027The Last ResortReynaPost-production
Television