Child of ‘90s bombshell Tia Carrere comes out as transgender: ‘He's his own person'
Carrere, who shot to fame in 1992 for playing Cassandra Wong in the classic comedy 'Wayne's World,' recently revealed that she's proud of her 19-year-old son's major life change.
'He's very matter-of-fact,' the 58-year-old star told People. 'He knows who he is, and he's very happy.'
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5 Tia Carrere's child has come out as a transgender man.
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The Hawaii native claimed she 'did a good job' raising Jude — who was born Bianca Wakelin — and is pleased with the person he grew up to be.
'He's such a sweetheart, he's like the therapist to all the other kids,' she added of her son, whom she shares with ex-husband Simon Wakelin. 'When his friends go out drinking or partying too hard, he's always the designated driver, that kind of caring friend you can always lean on.'
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But the actress said she won't 'congratulate' herself too much because, 'He's his own person.'
The teen, who is Carrere's only child, seemingly has no plans to follow his mother's path in Hollywood.
'He's more introverted, so he definitely won't go into acting or singing like I did,' Carrere added.
5 Jude walked the red carpet at the world premiere of Disney's 'Lilo & Stitch' remake on May 17.
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5 'He's very matter-of-fact,' Carrere said. 'He knows who he is, and he's very happy.'
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But Jude is interested in other forms of art.
'He's a great artist,' his mother shared. 'I don't know what he'll do! Maybe become a doctor or work with animals. He's working with animals right now.'
Carrere insisted Jude 'doesn't love the spotlight' — though he did walk the red carpet in an all-black suit with a pink and white floral lei around his neck for the world premiere of 'Lilo & Stitch' at El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles earlier this month.
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5 Carrere and her only child attended the premiere of 'The Angry Birds Movie' in Westwood, Calif. on May 7, 2016.
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5 Carrere and Jude at the season 1 premiere of Netflix's 'AJ and the Queen' in January 2020.
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Carrere, who played Mrs. Kekoa in the live-action remake of the animated movie, had to skip the big night because she was scheduled to film in the Philippines.
She also voiced Nani in the original 2002 'Lilo & Stitch' and the television series that ran from 2003 to 2006.
Carrere has acted in dozens of productions since she was discovered at 17 years old at a grocery store in Hawaii, according to People. She had been approached by parents of a film producer for the 1988 movie 'Aloha Summer,' who had told her, 'Darling, you're gorgeous! You should be the female lead in our son's movie!'
The star claimed her career only went up after that, saying she 'wants to be doing this for the next 40 years.'
Carrere also boasts a successful music career on top of her acting credits.
She has won two Grammy awards for 'Best Hawaiian Music Album' with her musical partner Daniel Ho.
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