Biography
Christina Milian was as well known for her effervescent screen presence as for her light, silky singing voice. Born in New Jersey in 1981 but raised in Waldorf, Maryland, Milian took a strong interest in both singing and acting as a small child. At age nine, her mother began taking her to auditions for local talent agencies, resulting in her booking appearances in a number of local TV commercials. By the time she was 13, the young Milian was ready to take a more serious approach and her family was ready for a change, so Milian's mother took on an official role as her daughter's manager and moved Milian and her sisters to Los Angeles. There, she would land a few minor roles while working on her musical demos and networking with artists and producers in the recording industry before eventually making her professional musical debut as a featured vocalist on the Ja Rule track "Between Me and You" in 2000. This endeavor led to Milian signing with Def Jam Records and releasing her own pop-oriented self-titled debut album the following year. However, shortly thereafter, she would toggle back to acting, having landed the lead role in the romantic comedy "Love Don't Cost a Thing" (2003) opposite Nick Cannon. Riding a wave of ever-increasing notoriety, she would release her sophomore album, the more R&B focused It's About Time in 2004. Milian would next star alongside Hollywood megastars Uma Thurman and John Travolta in the "Get Shorty" (1995) sequel "Be Cool" (2005) before traveling to Romania to shoot the horror movie "Pulse" (2006) with Kristen Bell in 2006-the same year she explored a decidedly more urban sound on the album So Amazin'. The record was well-received, but Milian was ready for a new musical approach behind the scenes, ultimately leaving Def Jam in favor of Myspace Records, through which she released the 2008 single "Us Against the World." Milian then took a break from music, stepping back in front of the camera to star in "Bring it On: Fight to the Finish" (2009). By this time, audiences were growing increasingly familiar with Milian's pleasant presence as a pop culture entity, making her the perfect candidate to appear as the official social media correspondent for the competitive singing series "The Voice" (NBC, 2011-). She would go on to star on her own reality series, "Christina Milian Turned Up" (E!, 2015-16) while simultaneously co-starring with John Stamos on the series "Grandfathered" (Fox, 2015-16). In 2019, she began co-starring on the crime drama series "The Oath" (Crackle, 2019-).
