I am new to this so I am not sure what to do. I think I will treat it like a virtual diary somewhat? I think I will start with some recent stuff and go back, then forth.
Some people have been wondering where I have been. Even some of my closest friends have been wondering what I have been up to, I just do whatever I feel like doing. I am the real M.I.A.
Here is a photo of me by my friend Juan e. Martinez by my old stomping grounds near my Tribeca studio in New York City. This was taken in October of 2008.
An old bio written by Natalie Guevera in the beginning of the 2000's, probably in 2004. This bio was published in the DDD magazine, on MySpace, and TiffanyLimosOfficialWebsite (that is now defunct):
Bio by Natalie Guevara
TIFFANY LIMOS
Those who claim the new millennium has yet to find its definitive It-girl
icon had better brace themselves for Tiffany Limos. A modern-day
Renaissance woman, Limos has worked extensively in all spheres of the
entertainment industry, including film, music, art, writing, fashion,
dance, and behind-the-scenes production. Boasting an impressive resume
sprinkled with acting credits, magazine titles, and numerous accolades
from colleagues and fans alike – as well as the distinction of being the
sole female muse to filmmaker Larry Clark – she is not only a force to be
reckoned with, but the living embodiment of hard work and perseverance.
Blessed with brazen determination and an optimistic, sky-is-the-limit
outlook, Limos is a breath of fresh air for critics who insist the
Hollywood stars of today have lost all charisma and sparkle. In
performing a deft balancing act between the mainstream and downtown art
worlds, Limos has defied any fanciful notions of what an ingenue should
be and do, preferring instead to go about things her way, all the way.
Hers is a story that is the very quintessence of the American dream,
seemingly impossible yet awe-inspiring all at once.
AMERICAN GIRL FROM TEXAS
A first-generation American, Tiffany Rochelle Limos was born January 31,
1980 in Dallas, Texas to Licerio and Nanette Limos, both Filipino
immigrants. Her father hails from Pangpanga, Philippines – notable for
its Muslim religion and tribal culture – while her mother was born in
Leyte, regarded as the most Catholic and Spanish-dwelling island of the
Philippines. A family friend of jazz composer Duke Ellington and distinguished
Spanish and Chinese artists in America and Internationally, it is no surprise that her daughter's
interest in the arts, particularly the cinema, developed at a very early
age. Spurred by her equally passionate father to pursue a home-schooled,
yet top-notch film education, Tiffany Limos began a steady consumption of
almost ten films a day, familiarizing herself with everything from the
Blaxploitation pictures of Jack Hill to acclaimed foreign films like the
Godard masterpiece Band of Outsiders. B-movie rentals from the
neighborhood video store were the norm at the Limos household – not, as
one would suspect, out of preference, but because, at one dollar per
movie, it was what the family could afford. Campy fare such as Silent
Night, Deadly Night (1984), Little Shop of Horrors (1960), and Dolls
(1987) entertained young Tiffany for hours, leading her to playfully
refer to these films as her "babysitters." These early films meant so much to Limos that they would
reapper in her adult life - in the form of a vintage "Dolls" movie poster
fellow B-movie expert Quentin Tarantino gave the passionate (B-movie) fan for her
birthday.
By the age of eight, Limos had mastered the art of using both
video and photo cameras, and by age ten her knowledge of
distinguished directors – Howard Hawks, George A. Romero, and
Martin Scorsese, to name a few – rivaled that of many film
scholars. Never the type to settle only for those who have
achieved mainstream success, Limos also fostered great
appreciation for underground cinema and the maverick filmmakers
who shaped it, including John Cassavetes and Samuel Z. Arkoff –
the latter of whom would eventually go on to work with Limos on
Teenage Caveman (2002), Larry Clark's playful send-up of the
'50s-era sci-fi movie.
FASHION, FLAIR, & VISIONAIRE
At fourteen years old, Limos put down her video recorder and tried her
hand at working in front of the cameras instead. Her short-lived but
successful career as a model spawned print work for various catalogues
and campaigns as well as fashion editorials in YM, Seventeen, Sassy, and
the popular UK publication i-D, the first magazine to ever feature Limos.
Two years later, Limos' unique look and innate sense of rhythm enabled
her to embark on a stint as a backup dancer; she went on to appear in
music videos for hip-hop stars such as Brandy, the Fugees, Lauryn Hill,
Nas, Snoop Dogg, and the Wu-Tang Clan.
That same year, Limos' experience in the fashion world qualified
her as the perfect assistant in shoots for eminent American
designers Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein. At nineteen, she
quickly upgraded from assistant to magazine maven when she helped
jumpstart the innovative fashion publication V Magazine along
with Stephan Gan, Cecilia Dean, James Kaliardos, Alix Browne, Alessandro Magania and Claudia Wu.
Limos also explored the alternative fashion magazine realm by
joining editors-in-chief Bay Garnett and Kira Jolliffe in
launching Cheap Date Magazine, a fun, unpretentious look at
shopping and style. With contributors ranging from the high-end
to the hip
– Kate Moss, Anita Pallenberg, Marlon Richards, Chlo.. Sevigny, Rachel
Weisz, Liv Tyler, and Harmony Korine were but a few of the notable names
involved – Limos was in excellent company.
Motivated by the advice of her colleague, Anette Wenzel (of Wilson/Wenzel), these
years also witnessed Limos pursuing higher education in the
top-tier New York universities NYU and Columbia, successfully
maintaining a 4.0 grade-point average despite her involvement in
various extracurricular activities.
"YOU SHOULD BE IN PICTURES…"
The year 1999 proved to be a fateful one for Tiffany Limos. Much like the
starlets of yesteryear who were accidentally "discovered" in commonplace
drugstores and diners, Limos encountered industry outlaw Larry Clark, a
critically-acclaimed photographer and director of the controversial hits
Kids (1995) and Bully (2002), in the most ordinary of places: a New York City bookshop.
Clark's eye for talent (previous discoveries include Chloe Sevigny, Harmony Korine,
Rosario Dawson, Leo Fitzpatrick, Harold Hunter, Michael Pitt, Justin
Pierce, and Daniel Francese) was, once again, spot-on: he knew he had
something special with Tiffany Limos. In turn, Limos – who always knows a
good opportunity when she sees it – seized the chance encounter to show
Clark several writing samples. Impressed by this ballsy wunderkind with
an artistic voice sophisticated beyond her years, Clark commissioned
Limos to write several screenplays. The deals were inked in 2001.
This is not to say there weren't certain interruptions in Limos'
burgeoning writing career, however. In 2001, Clark began casting
roles for his most complex and character-driven film to date, Ken
Park. The character of Peaches de la Cruz, a teenage girl who is
regularly abused by
her religious fanatic of a father, possessed a strong emotional arc
requiring everything from sweet naivet.. to sexual curiosity to
psychologically-charged hopelessness and despair – hardly the kind of role
given to a typical ing..nue. Limos' limited acting experience was exactly
what Clark was looking for; he wanted an unknown, someone who looked young
but could express mature emotional depth, drawing more on raw feeling than
stylized acting technique. Limos, whose biggest role up to that point was
playing the Virgin Mary in a school play, accepted Clark's offer with
little trepidation. She went on to star in Ken Park alongside fellow
first-time actors James Bullard, Stephen Jasso, and Mike Apauletegui.
The film opened in 2002 to much controversy, with some critics
calling it Larry Clark's most dangerous, risk-taking offering to
date. Nevertheless, Ken Park garnered critical acclaim and
various accolades from distinguished individuals in the art
world, including fashion designers Marc Jacobs, Hedi Slimane, Karl Lagerfeld, Raf Simons and legendary
filmmakers Spike Lee, Quentin Tarantino, Michel Gondry, Woody
Allen, Olivier Assayas, Wong Kar-wai, Gaspar Noe, Takashi Miike,
and Jean-Luc Godard (whose sister, Veronique, served on the jury of the 2003 Nantes
Film Festival with Limos and later went on to produce and collaborate on
projects with the starlet). Limos' performance
as Peaches was especially lauded, with Clark himself singing her
praises in numerous interviews. "In Ken Park, we were doing
amazing things in front of the camera. Tiffany is the perfect
example," he revealed to Paper magazine later that year. "What
she does in front of the camera is so real and so tender. In the
scene where Peaches' father has caught her having sex with her
boyfriend and forces her into a ritualistic repentance ceremony, I was crying the
whole time."
PRINTED MATTER
Though several acting offers came her way after Ken Park, Limos
decided to settle down and focus on her greatest passion:
writing. She has always felt a natural inclination to be behind
the scenes and create rather than seek the glow of the
spotlight; indeed, it is through words and the documentation of
experiences that Limos reaches her strongest form of
expression.
In the midst of her fruitful writing period, Limos still found
time to provide great features for several magazines. In
particular, her OneWorld Magazine cover story on music
superstars the Neptunes (a production duo comprised of Pharrell
Williams and Chad Hugo) yielded some thought-provoking responses
from the interviewees, with Williams offering insightful
comments about race relations and the African-American community
and Hugo claiming it was the first time he was asked about his
Filipino roots. "You are one of the very few people that
actually approached me about [being Filipino]," he told Limos in
the interview. "I think it helps younger people realize that
it's not impossible to do what you want to do. The only thing
is, is that if you do it, you gotta be great at it."
Hugo's message was one Limos could relate to. In 2003, her candor
and honesty in regards to race and ethnicity made her a
compelling subject for the many magazines that featured her. To
date, Limos has graced the covers of U-Topic (the premiere
publication of Tahiti); "Rebel," one of
France's top fashion magazines – Limos' cover outsold previous covers
starring supermodels Kate Moss and Gisele Bundchen, and helped launch the
stars of Larry Clark's 2006 feature "Wassup Rockers");Audrey; El
Mundo; UK magazine The Face(along with Larry Clarks other famous "kids" –
Sevigny, Fitzpatrick, Pitt, Hunter, Dawson, and Rachel Miner); and Trace,
being the first Polynesian to do so (Limos went on to be featured in their
book Transculturalism as one of the celebrity transculturalist icons to
watch along with Rosario Dawson, songstress Alicia Keys, and Nigo of the
clothing line Bathing Ape). It was in this landmark spread for Trace that
Limos, a go-getter involved in all facets of art and entertainment, gave
herself her most appropriate title to date: hustler. "I did everything,"
she boldly told scribe Claude Grunitzky. "I hustled! You want to talk
about a girl who's a hustler? Tiffany Limos is a hustler."
Limos was also profiled in such prestigious publications as
Complex, The Dallas Times, Flaunt, Harper's Bazaar, Interview
(in which she was hailed as one of the "Catchers in the Rye" for
the new art generation and influential for years to come), The LA Times, The New York Times,
Nylon, Paper(in which she was featured as one of the "Most
Beautiful People of 2003"), Radar, V/Visionaire, Vibe, Vice,
Vogue (UK, French, Japan, Spanish, and Italian editions, the
last of which she was hand-picked as a favorite cinema personality by famed photographer Ellen
Von Unwerth for a sensuous spread), and Women's Wear Daily (in
which she was selected, along with Maggie Gyllenhaal, James Franco and other
ingenues, as one of the millennium's most promising young
cinematic influentials).
REBEL QUEEN
The years 2004 and 2005 also found Tiffany Limos steadily at
work, particularly in the music industry. With her remarkable
creative foresight, Limos envisioned a harmonious match
between avant-garde music video director Michel Gondry and upcoming
hip-hop star Kanye West; this eventful meeting, hatched and arranged by
Limos, eventually led to the Gondry-directed video for "Heard 'Em Say,"
Kanye's third single off of his sophomore album, Late Registration (2005).
Limos helped produce the effort alongside Gondry and Julie Fong.
Limos' networking prowess also spawned meet-ups between artists
as dynamic and diverse as Paul Barman, Pharrell Williams,
Kelis, Fiona Apple, Jon Brion, Sean Lennon and Andre 3000 of Outkast; she even did a bit of
collaborating of her own when she lent her vocals to Sam
"Squeak E. Clean" Spiegel's Bumble Beez album and assisted Sean Lennon on a film short
that accompanied his critically-acclaimed "Friendly Fire" (2006) album.
Limos re-teamed with Gondry to collaborate on his film The
Science of Sleep (2006), a charming study on dreams and reality
starring fresh-faced international icons Gael Garcia Bernal and
Charlotte Gainsbourg. She also collaborated with Gondry and
comedian Dave Chappelle – whom Limos has known since 1996 – on
the documentary Dave Chappelle's Block Party (2005), an
innovative take on the regular stand-up comedy routine/concert inspired by Richard Pryor's Wattstax (1973).
TRANSCULTURALISM
Naturally, being a small minority in an industry overpopulated
with the thin, blonde-haired, blue-eyed female ideal is
difficult, especially when the minority happens to be
Polynesian, one of the most poorly represented cultures in
Hollywood. Ever since she was a child, Limos has endured
racism and discrimination; her hope is that, rather than
derail her, these hardships will only deepen her drive to
succeed. Despite any criticism she may receive for her
differences, these very characteristics are what have made
Limos a cut above the rest. They have landed her in the pages
of the most esteemed fashion magazines, positions Limos has
wisely used to her advantage by showcasing both her beauty and
brains, promoting her film projects, and speaking out about
the issues of most importance to her. As she explained to
Trace magazine: "We are a new breed of people. It's harder for
us because we have to live up to the Filipino communities, we
have to live up to the American communities. We're not
Filipino enough, we're not American enough, we're not Spanish
enough."
But people have begun taking notice. Last year, The Filipino
Channel (TFC), the highest-rated channel in all of Asia,
featured Limos in a segment titled "The Biggest Filipinos in
America" along-side Filipino-American icons DJ Q-Bert (Skratch Piklz), Chad Hugo (The Neptunes) and APL (Black Eyed Peas). The actress was interviewed about her views on the
Polynesian community and praised for challenging conventions
and embracing her sexuality, both on- and off-camera. Limos is
already a well-known media figure in countries such as France,
Italy, the Philippines, and Tahiti.
UP-AND-COMING
With several projects on the horizon, the future seems bright for Tiffany
Limos.
When not discussing production duties or developing her
screenplays, Limos makes time to involve herself in worthy
causes: several charities she works closely with are Love 4 Leyte
(which helps the landslide victims in her mother's native
island) with DP Magazine and the Black Eyed Peas, the Children of the Philippines, Hurricane Katrina, The Writer's
Foundation, The Agape Spiritual Center in Culver City in California,
St. Michael's Catholic Church in Dallas in Texas and the Harold Hunter Foundation (established in
loving memory of the late skateboarding star).
One may have to look back to the example set by outstanding
artists such as Dennis Hopper, Cindy Sherman, and Jean-Michel
Basquiat to be reminded of those who, in not limiting themselves
to one gimmick, sphere, or profession, have become an essential
part of the very innovative dialogue that bore them. Over the
years, Limos has successfully navigated her way through artistic
communities both large and small; she has rubbed elbows with
everyone from fashion photographer Bruce Weber to renegade artist
Nobuyoshi Araki and formed an extraordinary network of inventive
friends and revolutionaries along the way. Tiffany Limos is a
deserving member of this circle of dreamers and boundary-pushers.
Ever familiar with the bold-faced names of the glitterati and
hipster elite, it will not be much longer until her own creative
brilliance comes to light.
