Actress, entrepreneur, writer, producer and mother Tika Sumpter is returning to the big screen this holiday season in Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Reprising her role as Dr. Maddie Wachowski, Green Hills’s beloved veterinarian, Sumpter plays opposite James Marsden and Jim Carrey in the latest installment of the blockbuster franchise. “It just keeps getting bigger and broader and better,” shares Sumpter, while talking a side of skin care.
People always love a big holiday blockbuster. What are you most excited about with this latest installment?
With each new movie, it gets bigger and broader and better. We’re going from Tokyo to London to some other places you’ll be able to see there. There’s a lot of Easter eggs and there’s a lot more humor, a lot more heart and a lot more action. We get to have Keanu Reeves voicing the role of Shadow, so it’s awesome. And you are getting double the Jim Carrey, who’s playing two characters in it. Plus, Colleen, who voices Tails and Idris Elba, who voices Knuckles. And then, good old James Marsden, who plays my husband and Ben Schwartz, who plays Sonic.
The big thing is just adding more characters [and] opening up the world more. I think families, kids and even people who don’t have families will really love what we did. Sonic is iconic and it’s going to continue to be that.
When you are doing the press for the film, I’d imagine that you have a busy schedule. How do you get into the mindset to do that travel and that red carpet work?
I’m getting into the mindset now! I had an all-day press junket yesterday. I’m really trying to take care of myself a lot more as I’m getting older. You just have to! I literally fell the other day outside while walking my dog. I could not believe it—I didn’t even tell my husband. My husband is going to ask me about it now! I didn’t even tell anyone.
For me, it starts when I wake up. I just started doing AG1 because I felt like I wasn’t getting all my nutrients. I don’t think any of us do.
Then, I’ll do a salad here and there or when we can. It definitely helps me with my energy and knowing that I’m getting the nutrients that I actually need. Every day is important because in moments where you fall or you do things, the recovery is quicker and your body just reacts a little bit better.
Also, I have an eight-year-old, who I have to keep up with. That’s one of the ways I do it.
This morning, I got up and took a little time for myself. I know I always say, ”Look, even if you don’t have an Instagram-worthy hour of self-care, just do it.” Most people don’t have an hour to do all the things. You get 10 minutes to yourself, really taking it in, whether it’s reading your newspaper, having your tea, or sitting on the couch, just doing nothing. Those are the ways that I prepare myself for longer days. And drink water!
Yes, right? It’s so important. When you do the red carpet and the press, do you work with the same glam squad, or how do you plan the beauty part of it?
I love my glam squad because they know what I love. For makeup, I work with my friend and makeup artist, Kristene Bernard, who I’ve been working with for more than 10 years on and off through different things.
I have to make sure my skin is prepared correctly because that’s how makeup sits right. I’m 44, so I have to make sure that I’m washing my face. I have very sensitive skin and I try to be a minimalist now. I feel like I break out so easily. I’m using Mario Badescu’s Gentle Foaming Cleanser ($16). And, actually, next year, I’m coming out with my own oil-based product. It has vitamin E, avocado oil, avocado seeds—it’s a mixture that I’m using that I’ve been using for a while. It takes away scars, but it also hydrates your skin.
Also, I just started going back to doing the Face Gym, which I love. It is incredible because your jaws are clenched and when you’re stressed, all the stuff comes out. I literally felt like crying after the last time I was there because it felt like my face was relieved. It’s all about maintenance and that is maintenance. I think the more you simplify your maintenance, the better all the makeup is going to sit. Even when I do my own makeup now, I feel really good about it.
Then, I have my hairstylist, Kee Taylor, who’s been doing my hair for more than 10 years. I think the thing is, if you’re comfortable with the people, you can be honest with what you like. Then they also know what you like. I don’t do a lot of makeup makeup. I like a clean, fresh look most of the time unless it’s a red, bold lip. That’s the one thing that I love: a red Ruby Woo ($16). That is my thing. But I like using the same people over and over again who know me very well.
Smart. I think of you for some really iconic, really specific characters. Are there any moments that really still stick out to you in your career where it was very memorable for the glam?
Oh my God, I have a few. When I first started my career, it was on One Life to Live. I don’t think they understood what to do with my hair and makeup at all. I got a real, quick lesson. You need to know what looks good on you so that you can help people who don’t know what looks good on you. Colors, color matching, all the things. I learned a lot from that. I learned very quickly that I needed to know how to do my makeup so that I could help people who don’t necessarily know how to do it for my skin tone.
That was a really quick lesson. Then, going to Gossip Girl, it was very clean, very fresh makeup. I went in with the idea of, “This is how I want to look.” They were like, “Yes, we agree. We like the makeup, no-makeup look, but the outfit spoke for itself.” That’s when I realized, “Oh, this glam thing is actually a real thing. People are really into it!”
Then, when I did Sparkle with Ruth Carter, an Oscar award-winning designer, that was so cool. The makeup was so cool because we got to do ’60s glam and hair and that whole thing. Those are iconic moments. Actually, Ruth Carter has a book out and I’m in it. The outfits from Sparkle with, God bless her soul, Whitney Houston, is in it. For me, that was iconic. It was an iconic old remake of a movie that meant a lot to the culture. Those were some things for me that I felt like, ”Oh, this is cool. I get to do more than what I normally do in this section.” But in the beginning of my career [I] was like, “Oh, I need to know what looks good on me, what fits my skin.” Then Gossip Girl was like, ”Oh, this glam thing is a real thing!”
When you look back on your career, would you have done anything differently?
Oh, man, I feel like I learned along the way. My best advice: Always bring makeup to sets. Bring it to the photo shoots. Just bring your bag. That’s what I’ve learned, no matter who you are. Because sometimes what will happen is…someone thinks they’re prepared and they don’t necessarily have the things that you like. So you can help them with that, by bringing your stuff. The stuff that works for you. So, yes, I would say bring your own stuff anywhere. For me, that’s my security blanket.
But I don’t think there’s anything I regret. Maybe it would be speaking up for myself more and not being afraid because I think what happens is you’re scared you’re going to offend somebody—especially when you’re young in the business and you’re new and you’re just happy to be there. There were plenty of times I was like, ”I don’t want to say anything because I don’t want them to think I have a bad attitude or something.” I think it’s all about how you say it rather than how it actually is. I think people want you to feel your best, but you just don’t know how to say it.
I hope that gives somebody—no matter where they are in life, even if they’re at the makeup counter at MAC—some advice. Just tell people what you want, which goes beyond beauty. I think you just got to go say it and it’s all in the way you say it.
