Christina Milian<\/a> takes center stage in Lifetime\u2019s<\/a> upcoming thriller, He Couldn\u2019t Let Go<\/em><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0In the flick, she plays hit-making singer and actress Mariana who fights for survival after a dinner at home takes a terrifying turn. It\u2019s then that her instincts, mixed with the ability to read body language, could mean the difference between life and death. The movie, premiering July 11 on the network, also features Steven Strait,<\/a> Annie Gonzalez<\/a>, and Gregg Wayans.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This film is a departure from Milian\u2019s last project for the network, the holiday movie A Snow Globe Christmas<\/em><\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/em>in 2013. However, the multi-hyphenate entertainer has been building a diverse onscreen resume, including the younger version of <\/span>Mar\u00eda LaGuerta on the<\/span> short-lived <\/span>Dexter: Original Sin<\/span><\/i><\/a>, which ended after one season. She still remains busy career-wise while also balancing being a dedicated mom of three (Violet, Isaiah and Kenna) and wife to French singer-songwriter Matt Pokora. Together they made the big move with their kids to Paris in 2023.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Here, Milian talks about her latest juicy role and family life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Lifetime<\/p>\n<\/div>\n First off, how is living in Paris?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n Christina Milian:<\/b> It\u2019s good! Although we had a heatwave two weeks ago. That was pretty intense for everyone. Otherwise, everything is good. A lot of people are coming out right now for Fashion Week, and we have the carnival where we start getting the tourists here. It\u2019s nice because I get to see a lot of friends texting me that they are coming up. Now we have to figure out where we\u2019re going to go and what we\u2019re doing. That\u2019s really fun for me. I tell my friends of course I want to do the tourist stuff, but also let\u2019s go to the park and have a spritz. Things that may look like stereotyped things we actually do here.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Anything you miss about living in the United States?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n Absolutely food. I actually came back yesterday for a nine-day-long business trip. I went to Louisiana, which is definitely a food thing. I went to Mississippi and Alabama too, so all three places, I immediately had a crab boil. They don\u2019t do crab legs like that over here, where it\u2019s just drawn butter. I don\u2019t understand why. Maybe they need to bring it here, but it\u2019s just classic drawn butter, and crab legs just does it for me. I grew up in Maryland, and we would take the bushel of crabs and do that. It\u2019s those little things. Usually, it\u2019s food-related. I love the States. There are so many things to do. I was there for the Fourth of July too, so just seeing people excited about the Fourth of July and how they dressed up for it and watching the fireworks. That reminded me of my childhood. There is a lot I do miss about the States as well.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n He Couldn\u2019t Let Go<\/i><\/b> is a bit different from your first Lifetime movie? What did you enjoy about this role?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n She is spicy! She is very intelligent, and she is intuitive. That\u2019s what I liked about the character: her intuition and ability to piece the puzzle together. It was part of her profession, but I love there is a background about her with her father and the military. She is very aware and alert. I love that she is a strong character. The movie is kind of terrifying. There is a reality to it where this can possibly happen. It\u2019s so twisted, but things actually do happen like this sometimes. It is very twisted. I like that it\u2019s a little creepy. It\u2019s a departure from what people usually see me in, so playing this role was exciting.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Social media is a double-edged sword but, in this case, it may prove helpful.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n Exactly. It works in two ways. Also, it made it a little bit easier for this guy to find his way into her home. At the same time, her ability to figure things out while it was happening. It worked for both of them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Frank Ockenfels 3\/Paramount+ with SHOWTIME<\/p>\n<\/div>\n You spend a lot of time with you and Steven. How was building that tension on set?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n Steven is an awesome actor. Working with him, wow, there is something about his eyes. I think they do dramatize them a little bit more when you see him and his eyes. He has this really sweet exterior. When he steps into the house, it feels like someone you could warm up to. That\u2019s what happens. Though she is not immediately comfortable or happy that he is there because she is waiting for her husband to come home. It\u2019s her husband\u2019s friend. Then as time goes on, she realizes this is a little bit darker than I expected. The two of us spent time working together. There were a lot of rehearsals, especially the more intense scenes. That wasn\u2019t just to get the lines in our heads, but to figure out what that character was feeling and why. Though it\u2019s nothing how we are in person, it helped us understand what that person is dealing with. We found a lot of that on set because there are things you can\u2019t rehearse. You really have to play it out as it\u2019s happening. As long as you have the right mindset, it will take you there.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n We\u2019ve watched your maturation over the last 25-plus years, whether it\u2019s music or acting.\u00a0 How would you describe your evolution going from one to the other and being seen in a different way like for this role?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n I think part of who I am has always been someone who wants to be diverse. I think the diversity of all the different roles and the types of things I\u2019ve done in my career has been important to me. I want to always show I\u2019m not just one tone. As far as the world getting to know me, of course, they know me as this girl. Then I was this girl in a rap song with Ja Rule on \u201cBetween Me & You\u201d, but I really wanted to be a pop singer. So, the people got to see me as a pop singer. That was at 18 years old, and then I became a woman. Then I dipped it low, and from there I started to do movies and took starring roles that really emulated and was a reflection of who I was at the time as a teenager and telling stories for teens. Then I did romantic comedies. It\u2019s all been different to where even if it was a romantic comedy, which I tend to be very good at, I like to tell different stories. I guess you can say for my lifetime I\u2019ve been a really good storyteller, songwriter, or singer. That\u2019s my job. Tell stories in different ways.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Do you show your kids your work?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n They\u2019ve seen some of my work before. They\u2019ve seen my Christmas movies. My daughter, who is 16, never really cared much in the past until she went to high school, until her friends started to tell her about me. It was then like, \u201cMom, you didn\u2019t tell me you did this movie.\u201d I was like, \u201cGirl, I have shown you this movie so many times.\u201d She just didn\u2019t remember, or it didn\u2019t matter to her, and now it does.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Love Don\u2019t Cost a Thing<\/span><\/i><\/a> and <\/span>Bring It On: [Fight to the Finish]<\/a>. <\/span><\/i>Those are the two movies, especially in high school, where they have all these edits on TikTok and such. So now she knows about them. I feel like her era now is starting to watch older stuff like <\/span>Gilmore Girls<\/span><\/i><\/a>. They end up watching it over and over again. I\u2019m happy to see that something that was done so long ago still matters now.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n What\u2019s one set you wish you could have been on longer?<\/b><\/p>\n Mar\u00eda LaGuerta in <\/span>Dexter: Original Sin<\/span><\/i>. We had our first season in the books with a second season thought in the books. Unfortunately, that one got canceled. I had so much fun playing this role because I just think of the character and the intensity of Mar\u00eda LaGuerta and the fun of <\/span>Dexter<\/span><\/i>. Even though it was a dark comedy. I mean, it\u2019s a drama, but also a comedy in a way. I loved her strength. Again, she was someone who was piecing the puzzle together over time. I loved my cast as well. They were so much fun. I would give anything to do another season or have another day to play with Mar\u00eda LaGuerta that cast again.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Where would you want to see Maria go in the next season, had it moved forward?\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n I think we were really seeing the beginnings of her career. Obviously, we already know who Maria was, but I was curious to see what the second season would have brought. I think we would have seen a little more of her dating. We would have also seen a little more between her and Christian Slater\u2019s<\/a> character [Harry Morgan] had a very good teamwork going on there. They were building trust. I would have loved to see that trust grow where they got over the hump and actually continued to move forward into her reaching what becomes her career as a captain.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n You\u2019re almost a decade since you and your husband Matt first got together. Both being entertainers, how is it juggling family and career?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n That is crazy. Time has flown by. I think with us both being Libras, born the same day, balance is just everything to us. I think we\u2019re managing it well. We support each other. He works his butt off, and I love to work my butt off. He is also one of those people who manifests and gets things done. I love what I do, and am always thinking about what I\u2019m doing next. I almost have to hold myself down to focus on one thing and be really great at it. It\u2019s amazing for me to have my family because it allows me to focus on the things I can really, truly, hone in on\u2026Whether he is touring and I\u2019m doing a film, we have great teamwork that happens. We have our moms and everyone else who helps us do what we do. The family is always part of who we are. The first thing we want to do when we\u2019re done working is drop everything and come home to the kids and make each other happy. We have a lot of love in the house.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Any update on new music?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n You know, everyone is asking me that lately. I mean, should I do music again? I went to Cannes Lions a few weeks ago, and between that time and now, I\u2019ve been asked about it. God is trying to tell me to do it again if I want to. I think now, as we\u2019re talking about the work-life balance, I haven\u2019t really been doing it because I needed to raise my kids a little and focus on acting. Now I feel like they\u2019re at a steady pace at their age with school, where we\u2019re good. I think I may head into the studio again to do some music again. I won\u2019t even say I think. I know I will.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n What do you want to say to viewers before they check this movie out?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n Just to get your friends together because it\u2019s time to have an intense night. It\u2019s going to be fun. Get ready for the ride of your life. We are going to take you on a trip.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n He Couldn\u2019t Let Go,<\/i> Movie<\/b> Premiere, Saturday, July 11, 8\/7c, Lifetime <\/b><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n![\"Christina](\"https:\/\/www.tvinsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Dexter-Original-Sin-Maria-LaGuerta-761x570.jpg\")
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