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News, Reviews & Commentary on Lesbian and Bisexual women in Entertainment and the Media

"True Blood"'s Tara is a stand-out character

I don’t know about you, but when Sunday Funday night rolls around, all I want are my fat pants, Thai food and some quality time with the supernatural beings on True Blood. Now before you get all, “Oh Sookie — I love her!” on me, let me tell you I could kind of care less about Sookie Stackhouse and vampire Bill Compton. For me, it’s all about Sookie’s BFF Tara, played by Rutina Wesley.

What makes her so special? Well, have you seen her? She is gorgeous and her body is like a brick house. Her skin looks as though it has been bathed in honey and milk and kissed by pixies in the garden of hotness.

Beyond the superficial, Wesley is able to capture the balance of sassy attitude and childlike naivety of Tara’s character in a way that makes her likeable. To be honest, when the series started out, her character bugged me. I’m all for bitchy attitudes, but there were times when she went off for no apparent reason. As the show has progressed and her character has shown more vulnerability, I’ve grown to love her.

So of course, now that I am on the road to becoming president of the Rutina Wesley fan club, I had to find out where to see more of her. Luckily for me, she starred in the movie, How She Move, which happens to fall into my favorite movie genre: The dance-off.

Ever since I was a young girl, movies like Beat Street and Breakin’ have made up the majority of my video collection. Yes, I do own You Got Served and Step Up and, yes, I have tried to replicate the movements with little to no luck. A girl can dream can’t she? Why can’t all disputes be settled with a good electric slide or cabbage patch?

Wesley’s character in How She Move has dreams of going to medical school but can’t afford to due to some family issues. To keep her dream alive, she decides to try to make money in the most entertaining of all ways — by winning a step competition as the only female on an alpha-male led team. Perfect!

Interestingly enough, Wesley is a classically trained actress and dancer who has appeared on Broadway and was directed there by Sam Mendes (who worked with True Blood director Alan Ball on American Beauty). She grew up in Las Vegas and her parents are both professional dancers — her father a tap dancer and her mom a showgirl.

After graduating from high school she got the heck out of Vegas and pursued her passion for the arts at the University of Evansville (in Indiana) and later at Julliard in New York.

She’s had a few small roles elsewhere (one of which was edited out), but not much more. Hopefully, her involvement with True Blood, will pave the way for more movies and TV shows. Until then, I’ll be going to the local Spencer’s Gifts at the mall and searching for the perfect Tara poster to hang on my wall.

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  • Anonymous's picture

    True Blood's Tara

    Tara is a trip.  I'm still trying to figure her out. The actress who plays her is hot. I most defintely notice her figure.  Now knowing her background explains it all in how  she got that body. Too bad her character isn't queer. 

    I,too, hope Rutina gets more acting gigs in films .  I'm proud that a dark-skin sistah is gettin' some love and props.

     

     

    Thanks,Hornito for doing an article on her. Speaking of True Blood I need get by Blood fever on.  

    dancingdi's picture

    I'm a huge fan.

    Aside from the fact that she is absolutely stunning, I've loved her work in both True Blood and in How She Move.  There's no doubt that she's extremely talented and I'm really hoping that her role in True Blood will help her to break out and get more acting roles. It's nice to see some new blood out there.

     

    Dance like no one is watching. Love like you've never been hurt.

    Mel's picture

    she's the reason

    I have to admit that when I started watching the first episode of True Blood I was annoyed with the accent (probably because when I read the books they didn't have accents lol) but the minute Tara showed up in that store yelling at that lady I absolutly LOVED HER! Then I saw Lafayette and I was sold!  Together they make the show spicy and I love me some spicies!!

    *partir en premier ne veut pas toujours dire arriver en premier*

    Anonymous's picture

    character Tara.

    I am almost to the point where I do not want to watch True Blood anymore. The plots and most of the characters are cheesy or annoying. However my favorite characters are Tara and Layafette (at first was annoyed by Tara especially but after like episode 3 I had grew to like her). Rutina Wesley body is like Angela Bassett's as well as Rhona Mitra. I find both of these ladies nice looking. :) (Plus Angela Bassett is a favorite actress of mine). Anyways I was a little disappointed when character Tara had sex with character Eggs because the lady caused them to. I had liked when Tara stood her ground of waiting to have sex when she was ready but the show messed it for me. :( Oh well.
    Alison's picture

    The best part of the show

    Someone said this statement before but it deserves to be repeated: Sookie and Bill may be the lovers of the show, but the heart of it is Tara and Lafayette.

     

    "I ate the mythology and dreamt."

    ---Yusef Komunyakaa

    akiraj's picture

    She's a brick-house!

    AE should have a note before the beginning of every article about hot women:& Attention hot photos follow! May cause heart to skip a beat or two, labored breathing, & fainting. You have been warned! Rutina Welsey is HAWT! Her character is a strong & tough breath of fresh air on True Blood. Anna (Sookie) is always the damsel in distress & I really hate when they reduce a female character to counting on a man to rescue her from everything. Tara is my favorite character as well! & then when you throw in Lafeyette- it's muy caliente & muy entertaining!
    dollparts's picture

    damn!

    shes fit! i have been looking for her dance movie but havent found it yet in the stores here i hope itll come on tv soon here, i love her southern accent when shes talking trash on true blood lol her and lafayette are what keep me watching the show ive grown bored of sookie and bill annoys me 

     

    "Hands upon my back again.
    Survival is my only friend.
    Terrified of what may come.
    Remember I will always love you,
    Even as I claw your fucking throat away.
    But it will end no other way"

    SouthBluno's picture

    Tara...

    Deffinately the hottest one on the show. I've kinda lost track of whats going on in true blood, too distracted by her body :)
    lscole2425's picture

    It goes to show you never know...

    It goes to show you never know who you are watching until an article is done about them.  I did not put the pieces together until I read this that she was the young lady from How She Moves.  I love all musicals and dance flicks so imagine my surprise when I put two and two together. 

    I must say I like this show from the beginning and Tara is my favorite character because she takes no mess.  With that said I think that the writers are slipping a bit with her personality and this crazy chic having control over her.  I still like the show and will keep supporting this talented young lady!

    Thane McAllister's picture

    "Her skin looks as though it

    "Her skin looks as though it has been bathed in honey and milk and kissed by pixies in the garden of hotness."

    Funny...

    I wanna have her babies; i mean, i really want them to genetically alter her eggs into sperm and inseminate me with them. She is so fucking HAWT!!! I just wanna drink her bath water or chew her toenail clippings...

    Her hottness makes me dizzy...

    "...close your legs, bitch; i can see your Spanx..."

    Stop The Violence's picture

    OMG!!!

    When I read your coment it had me laughing so hard I that I couldn't even breath. I so concur with you on her HOTNESS!! *Fans self with hand*

     

    Pain is my only weakness...

    AmandaBear's picture

    Evansville?

    Evansville, you say?  This goddess of beauty went to college in Evansville?!  Holy sh*t, I'M FROM EVANSVILLE! *__*  Well, I actually live in Kentucky, but Evansville is just a 10 minute drive away from me!  One of my friends will be attending the University of Evansville this year!! 8D 
    SapphicDay's picture

    Love True Blood and Weeds

    Though sometime I get frustrated with True Blood, I mean they KNOW they are living with inhabitants of the underworld and they are so blase about it. :o( 

    Technology Will Lead To The Demise Of Civilization As We Know It. 

    Paperback-Writer's picture

    I used to love Tara..

    especially in Season 1. She and Lafayette were all about the trash talk! She is my favorite female seconded only by Amy.

     

    She really annoys me now, because instead of the show focusing on her strong suit, they are really pulling out the neediness she can sometimes have.

     

    Everybody is hot on True Blood. Even the guys (Eggs, Eric, Lafayette, Sam, Jason, DAMN)

    Adams's picture

    I LOVE Rutina Wesley! I

    I LOVE Rutina Wesley! I liked her fiery character Tara from the very first episode. I love the fact that she speaks her mind, holds nothing back and doesn't apologize for who she is. That is so sexy to me. The flecks of vulnerablity are so endearing, it makes her more human. I think she is a great actress and a strong, beautiful woman.
    Nona J.'s picture

    Beauty & Talent!

    Rutina Wesley is hooot! Bless the person who invented DVR. Tara's scene gets a lot of playback. On a non-oogling, I like Tara hard core directness.  

    " True enjoyment comes from activity of the mind and exercise of the body; the two are ever united" ~ Wilhelm von Humbolt

    dadevi's picture

    Hot-headed and HAWT

    I love the fact that Tara is a multi-dimentional character. In movies and on television, I get kind of sick of seeing black women angry for no apparent reason. At least the character of Tara has a history, and is seeking a future as well. Bravo to the writers, and the talent of Rutina Wesley!

    Did I mention she has fittest body I've seen since Angela Basset in "What's Love Got To Do With It?"

    Colette Capricious's picture

    It just had to be said

    It just had to be said again:

     

    "She is gorgeous and her body is like a brick house. Her skin looks as though it has been bathed in honey and milk and kissed by pixies in the garden of hotness."

    She and Lafayette are the only things the keep me watching this annoying show. We'll see how the  Lesbian Vampire Queen of LA plays out.  Maybe some hot butches? Wouldn't that be a dream come true. For me, anyway.

    shadowcat's picture

    i agree

    i find sookie and bill kind of annoying.  my favorite characters are tara and lafayette. 
    Cara D's picture

    Woo

    Although I like the other characters Tara definitely makes the show for me, her comedy is a welcome relief to the Sookie storyline at times (still love her but its a bit sappy), her and the grandma are the bestest.

     

    If you have not found something you are willing to die for, you have not yet lived. - Dr Martin Luther King Jr.

    a_l_y_s_s_a's picture

    shes cool

    Tara's ok and all but sookie pretty awesome. I love anna paquin.
    BiMyself's picture

    oh hell yeah

    Just got to say I love True Blood and I LOVE Tara! Out of the many hot girls on the show, she's one of the most naturally stunning. At first I found her personality grating and over-the-top, but she eventually softened up and showed layers which made her so much more endearing. Sookie is kind of a crap friend to her though. I would rather see more Tara and Lafayette (or Eric) on this show than Sookie and Bill, their love story is so boring, sappy and cliche!
    Lauren's picture

    I don't think many people

    I don't think many people watch for the main characters. lol I used to think the show sucked but I saw a bit of Eric and he was really interesting. I still have yet to watch any episodes in full (I saw a bit of the pilot and was just not impressed at all) but I'll eventually try it out.

     

    Lauren

     

     

     

    Blu's picture

    Total Agreement

    My friends watch true blood all the time and their focus is primarily on the sookie/bill relationship, I found mine to be on Tara the moment her mouth opened in that grocery store-ish scene.  She's freakin phenomenal and I'm extremely glad Rutina's getting into more roles that I can oggle her in lol but I really like how Rutina plays Tara, can't wait to see more of her ^^

    ~She gave me eleven roses, one was a plastic one and she said "I will love you until the last rose dies"~

    dollparts's picture

    i know!

    they need a lafayette/tara episode with focus on them because i only watch true blood to see what they are going to say and do lol episodes that made me fall in love with them was when tara started working at the bar and making people uncomfortable by pulling the race card and the episode when lafayette cursed those guys out because they were say he was cooking "aids" food lol  

     

    "Hands upon my back again.
    Survival is my only friend.
    Terrified of what may come.
    Remember I will always love you,
    Even as I claw your fucking throat away.
    But it will end no other way"