Ginny & Georgia actor Tameka Griffiths talks about her big break on the series and reclaiming her vibrancy, life and confidence.
Tameka Griffiths almost didn’t go to her audition for the Netflix original series Ginny and Georgia.
“I was so scared to call off from work,” she said, recalling her last-minute decision to go to the audition for the role of Bracia. According to her, the audition wasn’t perfect. “I actually messed up one of my lines and I had to cough through it,” she said. Despite this, Griffiths said she had so much fun, adding that “it definitely made me confident in knowing that if I’m having fun, if I have an understanding of the character, then I’ve done the best I can.”
In the show, Bracia is one of the few Black students at Ginny’s high school in Wellsbury. While her character was sparse in the first season, the second season of the show sought to develop her story line more, which allowed the show to tackle issues related to racism and colourism.
“I don’t think I understood the gravity of it,” Griffiths said about the role of Bracia in the show and the representation she provides for Black girls. Throughout the show, Bracia’s hair is styled in a variety of protective styles from the bantu knots she had during the audition to cornrows to braids during her performance in the school’s musical.
“I’m so grateful that I could be that representation because in doing that, it makes me that much more confident in my hair … and being that face for a lot of Black women who don’t see that,” Griffiths said.
She said she also appreciated that the show provided a hair team for her. While the hair teams were different for season one and season two, Griffiths said both hairstylists were based in Toronto and that they were “absolutely amazing.” She added that she was grateful that “they were definitely communicative with me about what would work and what I think Bracia would like.”
Born and raised in Toronto by Jamaican parents, Griffiths always loved the performance arts, but also strived for academic success, moving to the gifted program in Grade 3. This experience was a drastic change from previous school, which was predominately Black. “I got exposed to a lot of different people and, with that, I feel like I had to learn how to become adaptable in lot of different ways and the way that I speak. It opened up my interests a lot as well,” she said.
As for her early experience in the arts, Griffiths participated in some musical after-school programs, such as taking piano lessons and learning how to play the steel pan, a percussion instrument originating from Trinidad and Tobago.
“Meeting different people and knowing what their experiences are and knowing that could be a possibility for me was something that came a little bit later on with my exposure to other schools I attended,” Griffiths said.
She explained how these after-school programs broadened her horizons and contributed to her growing love for the arts.
Despite her love for the arts, Griffiths chose to focus more on her academics, adding that her parents had “their sights set really high” for her academic success after being in the gifted program. While she’s not sure her parents entirely understand her desire to pursue acting, she is grateful for the groundwork they have laid for her to take on “something this monumental,” she said.
Recently, Griffiths has also revamped her YouTube channel to discuss a variety of topics. She explained that the past few years have been a lot and she wanted to share that with her journey of regaining her vibrancy, life and confidence that was dulled during this time. “I had a lot of that when I was younger, when I was in high school or even younger than that, and I want to get back to that,” she explained.
In a recent video, she discussed her decision to get a tattoo that says, “honour thyself.” She explained that the tattoo serves as a reminder of being true to herself.
Griffiths said, “Whether it be in foods that I eat or how I speak up for myself or how I present myself to the world, it’s crucial, it’s crucial to me to mold myself into the person I want to become.”
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