- - Christina Milian Had to Change Her Name After Being Dismissed by Casting Directors: 'They Didn't Even Give Me a Chance'

Rachel DeSantisJanuary 22, 2026 at 3:45 AM

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Christina Milian -

Christina Milian entered show business as Christina Flores

She changed her last name after casting directors "didn't even give me a chance to go into the auditions"

Milian said changing her last name "changed the trajectory of my whole career"

Christina Milian is opening up about how changing her name altered the trajectory of her career.

Milian, 44, first entered show business as Christina Flores — but soon realized that having a Latina last name affected the way casting directors saw her.

“It was absolutely a business decision. I’m Afro-Cuban, [and] you didn’t see as many of our faces on TV,” she said on the Richer Lives by SoFi podcast on Tuesday, Jan. 20. “A lot of auditions I would go in for, I would try to go in as a Latina, but my skin color didn’t really match the last name to what was appealing at the time.”

Milian explained that she was unsuccessful when going for Latina roles, but was also dismissed as “Hispanic” when going for roles meant for Black women.

“They didn’t even give me a chance to go into the auditions,” she said. “So a friend of ours, she changed her last name and it really worked out for her.”

The Dexter: Original Sin star said she and her family brainstormed several possible stage names, but eventually settled on Milian, her mother’s last name. Before long, she saw the effects.

“Same picture, same headshot, changed the last name to Milian, and do you know, overnight… We sent it to the same casting directors,” she recalls. “It changed everything. I booked TV shows immediately. Just that one small little change, that pivot, actually changed the trajectory of my whole career.”

She continued, “It’s unfortunate. It’s not something that I’m proud of, that being the reason, but I’m happy we see more Black Latina faces on television now. People aren’t so hung up on little things like that, and they allow you to come in for your talents.”

Milian — who recently moved to France with French husband Matt Pokora and their children — added that if she was starting in the business now, she believes that she would not have to change her last name to be successful.

Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage

Christina Milian early in her career.

The star shared a clip of the podcast to her Instagram, adding the caption, “Early in my career, I had to think strategically about how I showed up in the industry—and this one decision changed everything for me.”

One of Milian’s first credited roles is a 1996 episode of Sister, Sister, in which she’s credited as Christina Flores. The next year, she appeared on an episode of Smart Guy as Christina Milian.

In 2015, she opened up to HuffPost about how it took time for her to accept that people would have questions about her racial identity.

“We’re all different, but you have to accept our differences,” she said. “As far as Afro-Cuban, I’m finding more and more that there’s people opening their eyes to seeing that. Latinos come in all colors, all shades. You should see my mom and her brothers and sisters. Same parents, but we just vary in color, shapes and sizes. But we’re still Latinos — that doesn’t change a damn thing. You can tell it’s in the core of our blood.”

on People

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”