'Shameless' actress Kate Miner says being a mother helped her portray a new mom through Tami Tamietti
From hooking up with the best man in one of the storage closets at her sister's wedding to bearing his child and moving in with him, Tami Tamietti has come a long way in 'Shameless' than any crazy girl could have been imagined to. And while the Showtime dramedy does love shedding stereotypes to throw curveballs in every character's way, for making Tami so relateable and iconically bitchy and hilarious at the same time, we have actress Kate Miner to thank.
For Tami, a lot of things were firsts once she met Lip Gallagher (Jeremy Allen White). Sure, they hooked up in the storeroom because that's what the maid of honour and best man are 'supposed to do at these things', but her tough exterior didn't automatically crack with Lip's over the top charm and in general wholesome persona now that he's finally quit alcohol.
When he was confused about adopting a preteen with an absentee mother, Tami stood by Lip's side, and subsequently also motivated him enough to move out of the Gallagher household and find their own place together. That was of course interrupted by a breast cancer scare, followed by a far more present pregnancy where Tami found herself dubious about whether she should keep the baby or not.
Even with Lip's delight and eagerness in keeping the baby, Tami didn't allow his wishes to completely direct what's best for her. And such is the charm of the character who not only went into emergency labour and haemorrhaged post-delivery resulting in a long drawn out ICU stint. But she is back and better than ever, managing jobs and taking care of her newborn like a pro while speaking her mind without giving two sh*ts about what people might think. In a world full of "pick me"s, Tami Tamietti is the most real, so of course, we sat down with Miner to get her insights on the vivacious tough cookie.
"It’s been a really fun journey playing Tami," Miner shares in a casual chat with MEA WorldWide, adding: "She’s got a lot of layers- starting with a pretty tough exterior one. It’s not easy for her to be vulnerable and she’s not someone who plans for the future because she assumes she’ll die young like her mother."
This maturity and transition didn't come without hurdles to pass either; while still in the ICU we saw Tami not very eager to hold her newborn, and later, when surrounded by new moms, more than fear of missing out, a fear of being incompetent shone in her so bright and so relatable that only Miner's real-life experience with a newborn could have been able to bring out. "Like a lot of new moms, the transition to motherhood was not a smooth one. Her moodiness and frustrations with Lip were a mix of her hormones and her insecurity that Lip was adjusting to parenthood more easily than she was. But Tami’s perspective was a little skewed because she was in the hospital and didn’t get to see Lip’s initial struggles watching Fred by himself."
Miner also spills: "When I first started working on Shameless I had a 4-month-old and was still totally overwhelmed with being a mom. Sometimes I’d show up to set in the morning on no sleep with spit-up in my hair and milk leaking through my shirt. So when Tami became a new mom it was art imitating life. I didn’t have to reach very far for it, that was just my literal life!"
A fan of "the world they (the show creators) have created and how nothing is too shameless for 'Shameless', Miner's favourite thing about Tami — like so many of the character's fans — is how "she doesn’t care what people think. She is who she is and she doesn’t apologize for being a strong woman who doesn’t take people’s shit. The audition scenes for the role were Tami calling Lip “Jabby”, and when I read that script I was like: I love this character!"
And for the rare occasions when she doesn't necessarily agree with her character's decisions, Miner says: "Even though she’s got her flaws, just like everyone else on the show, I always want to make sure that even if you disagree with Tami, you understand where she’s coming from."
Catch Miner bringing Tami and her fun, family dynamics to life only on 'Shameless' with Season 10 airing every Sunday at 9 pm only on Showtime.