DESTINATION: STARDOM

“… I have a dream …”
M. L. King
 

Many have a dream; very few exhibit the spirit and courage to pursue that dream. T J Myers is one of those exceptional few, a rare talent who has always been aware of her dream from the time she was a very young girl watching the sun set, convinced that her destiny lie beyond that mountain to the west. Her dream has taken her on a journey from that tiny, obscure town in Arizona through Lubbock and Dallas in Texas and finally to Hollywood where she has established herself as a successful model, actress and producer, a journey during which on stop-overs she has reigned as Miss Texas Teen, served her country as a soldier in the US Army, won awards as a sharpshooter, martial artist and rodeo competitor, been a national cover girl and model, and starred in various motion pictures and television shows. TJ Myers not only has a dream, she’s living it.

Reader’s Digest coined the phrase “My Most Unforgettable Character” … those who have met and worked with TJ Myers would agree that the experience invariably moves her toward the top of any list. It is not just her breathtaking beauty that makes an impression, her dedication, charisma and professionalism, but also a sweetness, an innocence, a sensitivity, a genuineness – a combination of qualities seldom found in models and actresses, especially one who also possesses extraordinary talent as well.

To read her list of credits, one can easily see why she has been described as “sexy”, “vivacious”, “charming” … but as impressive as her resume is, it doesn’t come close to representing the uniqueness, the true spirit of TJ Myers. Millions caught a glimpse of that spirit on January 3rd when the Fox Network reunited her with her birth parents as the subject of a 90-minute special entitled “Who’s Your Daddy” which generated tens of thousands of hits on her website. The Network, largely due to the controversial title of the show which was originally called more appropriately “Reunited”, was universally panned, but no one could deny the genuineness of emotion displayed by TJ during the entire 90 minutes. Having been given up for adoption when she was 6 weeks old, the show represented a significant part of her dream, an almost two decade old search for her birth parents finally tearfully and successfully completed. She remains extremely close to her adoptive parents to whom she credits for much of her success. She and her birth father have, also, become practically inseparable. And, her and her birth mother are healing and loving each other as much as if they were never separated. Miracles do happen.

A quality quickly recognized in TJ Myers would be her fierce competitive spirit, a quality that helped earn her her Native American name “Little Eagle” from her mentor, a Native American shaman. Some would say that exceptional competitive spirit is, in part, due to her being adopted, instilling in her special qualities that never failed to drive her to prove her worthiness in every endeavor. It is the same spirit that drove her to win trophies in barrel racing and Tae Kwon Do years ago, that resulted in her being chosen over thousands who auditioned to star in the forthcoming “Impossible Heists” series for
Court TV which will air in March, 2005. It is that same spirit that won her a place over hundreds in the National Hawaiian Tropic beauty pageant. Her spirit, desire, passion and love was responsible for her being chosen over thousands to star in the story of “Who’s Your Daddy” for the Fox Network. It is that same spirit that earned her Best Actor Award out of the top 90 students in her college where she majored in Theater Arts and Communication, that landed her roles most recently in the motion pictures “Intolerable Cruelty” starring George Clooney, “Dodgeball” starring Ben Stiller and the television series “Dr. Vegas” starring Rob Lowe. Not bad for a little girl, living on a farm in Camp Verde, Arizona, looking at the mountains in the West and saying to herself “I have a dream.”

Many who saw her on the Fox Network special witnessing her tearful reunion with her birth father, were right to feel that she looked familiar. On her journey she co-hosted “LA Night Life” on Fox and “Dallas Night Life” on Paramount. Additionally, TJ starred ironically as Major Myers in the USA Network’s series “Combat Missions” and went on to be cast in co-starring roles in the television series “Walker, Texas Ranger” and “18 Wheels of Justice”.

Never one to rest on her laurels, TJ formed her own production company CineVision Entertainment Corporation in 2002, to develop and produce quality motion picture and television programming. Her company has since co-produced pilots for two television series and the on-going television program “Fine Art Treasures”, a live 6-hour show broadcast twice weekly on DISH and DirecTV for almost two years. She also serves as its on-air host. Additionally, CineVision is scheduled to produce two feature films in 2005, “Music City” and “Town Without Pity”, as well as a yet-unnamed pilot for a network series slated for Fall, 2005.

Most recently TJ’s company has co-produced and TJ played the lead role in “Day of Miracles”, a docu-drama for Christian broadcasting that salutes some of the survivors of the September 11th terrorist attack on the Twin Towers in New York. I had the honor of directing that show and ultimately the privilege of working with TJ Myers, not just as a talent but as a producer. In my professional career I have worked with many of Hollywood’s biggest and best but I can say without hesitation that I have never had a more enjoyable experience than what I had working shoulder-to-shoulder with her. In spite of her beauty, “star” and “producer” status, she was the first on the set and the last to leave, always making sure her co-stars and crews were taken care of. A star trailer would have been wasted on her, for when she wasn’t in front of the camera, she was busy wrangling cables and lights, unafraid of getting her hands dirty amid all the dust and debris, dressing the sets, correcting make-up on the other performers, keeping script notes and logs, and even setting up shots and directing the actors when she thought I wasn’t looking. I don’t recall when I’ve seen a more hard-working or dedicated individual, on or off the set.

“ I have a dream …”

There are those very select few individuals who possess the magnetism, the charisma and the character for whom stardom is a destiny, and TJ Myers is to be counted amongst them. But even more than that, TJ Myers is a talent whose dream it is to help make the world a better place with what gifts she’s been blessed with, which makes her as comfortable in front of the camera as she is feeding the homeless, which she helps do at the Los Angeles missions during the holidays. It is a temptation to compare TJ Myers to some of those names for whom stardom could not be denied, just as stardom won’t be denied for her, but just as quickly one must affirm that TJ Myers can’t really be compared to anyone, for she is unquestionably an original, a star whose inner beauty matches her exquisite outer beauty, a star with a dream almost as big as her heart, her spirit and her talent.