Yahoo Movies Tamera and Tia Mowry Found Strength as Twins Because 'We Always Had to Fight ... We Are Very Strong'
Picture Perfect/Shutterstock Tamera Mowry-Housley and Tia Mowry-Hardrict
It's no secret that child stardom comes with sacrifices, but Tamera Mowry-Housley handled it with grace — and she's opening up about all of it in her new memoir.
Speaking to PEOPLE about her newly released book You Should Sit Down for This, Mowry-Housley reflects on her childhood and the balance between being a regular kid and an aspiring actress, who eventually landed her breakout role on Sister, Sister with twin Tia Mowry.
"It was hard. I thank God that I had my sister," the 44-year-old actress tells PEOPLE. "There was a point in our life where we were damned if we did, and damned if we didn't.
Mowry-Housley even recalled an instance where a biology teacher gave her a hard time for her career. "He just didn't understand that I'm a working actress. I couldn't be there every day. He automatically wanted to fail my sister and I."
Kwaku Alston Tamera Mowry
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"We worked hard," she continued. "I wanted to show him that, 'No, I'm still doing school. Yes, I am not there every day. I understand the attendance is not there, but this is a different case. This is a job.' I remember I gave him an ultimatum. I said, 'Let me take your final, let me take your final. Whatever I get on that final is what I get in the class.'"
And she passed!
"We always had to fight, my sister and I, always. Fight for our grades, fight for a role, fight to win a pageant. In the process, we are very strong."
RELATED VIDEO: Tia Mowry Talks Sister, Sister Reboot and Her Parenting Style
In the book, Mowry-Housley takes readers through her life — from landing her breakout role Sister, Sister with Tia to her stint as a talk show host on The Real. Throughout, she remains true to her optimism with hilarious dating anecdotes (she loves comparing men to wine!), stories about the (very few) times she disobeyed her mom and even a surprising tale of the time she babysat Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen.
Aside from the fun stories, Mowry-Housley also wore her heart on her sleeve as she detailed the death of her 18-year-old niece Alaina and her exit from The Real for the first time.
"There were moments where I questioned whether or not I should put it in the book either because it was so emotional and because I was speaking from my heart," she says.
She continues, "I know that there are individuals out there who will love to take advantage of that and tear you down. You have to always move from a place of truth and authenticity. I felt like that story needed to be told."
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You Should Sit Down for This is out now.
