Milian was born Christine Flores on Sept. 26, 1981 in Jersey City, NJ to Cuban immigrants Don and Carmen Flores. The oldest of three daughters, Milian’s family moved to Maryland shortly after her birth. After figuring out early on that acting was in her blood, the young girl began landing commercials for Wendy’s Hamburgers and Honeycombs cereal, as well as the lead role in a stage production of “Annie.” No small feat, considering that she lived in Maryland – a long way from the entertainment industry. The budding actress soon exhausted all of the opportunities Maryland could offer, so Carmen Flores, realizing her daughter’s potential, moved to Los Angeles with her three daughters when Milian was only 13 years old. Milian’s father stayed behind in Maryland. Moving to Los Angeles ended up making the singer’s dreams come true, but they came at a price. The distance proved to be too great a strain on her parent’s marriage and they soon divorced.
After only a few years struggling to make inroads in Hollywood, in 1998, Milian lent her considerable vocal talents to a small role in the animated feature “A Bug’s Life.” The following year, the attractive actress landed another small part, playing the unlikely role of a band geek in the hit teenage gross-out feature film franchise, “American Pie” (1999). As any struggling actress, she continued adding small roles to her resume, guest appearing on television sitcoms like “Charmed” (WB 1998-2006), “Clueless” (UPN 1996-99), and “The Steve Harvey Show” (WB 1996-2002).
Her first pivotal role arrived courtesy of MTV, when, in 2001, they hired her as the host of the little known series “Wannabe.” (MTV, 2001- ). The role was significant simply because it led to a meeting with director Joseph Kahn who invited Milian to audition for his slick, high octane, motorcycle flick, “Torque” (2004). The audition was a success and she landed the role of girlfriend to of one of the bikers. Though the film was not a huge success, it led to more and more film roles.
In 2003, Milian snared one of her most recognizable roles – starring as a popular cheerleader hired by the class geek (Nick Cannon) to turn him into a heartthrob in “Love Don’t Cost a Thing.” The feature film was a remake of the 1987 hit “Can’t Buy Me Love” starring a young Patrick Dempsey in the role of the class loser. The film put Milian one step closer to the stardom she craved. For the film, she not only gained major media exposure, but won a multitude of young fans and three Teen Choice Award Nominations. She also temporarily won the heart of co-star Nick Cannon. The up-and-coming young couple dated for more than two years until parting ways amidst rumors of Cannon’s penchant for philandering.
Continuing with her feature film career, Milian starred in the comedy, “Man of the House” (2005). After playing one of several underdressed and overexposed University of Texas cheerleaders being protected by grumpy Texas Ranger (Tommy Lee Jones) after they witness a murder, the editors of Maxim magazine had obviously taken notice of Milian’s physical gifts. In 2006, they named the starlet #10 on their highly touted “Hot 100” list.
Adding a unique edge to Milian’s marketability was the fact that this actress could really sing. In 2000 she supplied rapper Ja Rule with guest vocals on his hit single “Between Me and You.” She next co-wrote and sang extensive back-up for Jennifer Lopez’s 2001 hit, “Play,” featured on Lopez’s album J. Lo. In 2001 she released her debut self-titled solo album Christina Milian. She followed up with It’s about Time in 2004, garnering her a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary R&B Album. In 2006 she came out in support of pal Jessica Simpson by performing on roller skates in Simpson’s music video, “A Public Affair” along with Eva Longoria and Christina Applegate. That same year she released her third album So Amazin, featuring the catchy single, “Say I.” Despite her obvious talent and a Grammy nomination, all three albums were only moderately successful. It was alleged that due to weak album sales, Milian left the Island Def Jam record label after the release of her third album in 2006.
Going back to her first love, Milian returned to the big screen in the teenage horror flick “Pulse” (2006) – a teen horror flick about a group of college students being terrorized by evil spirits living in computers. The film also starred Kristen Belle of “Veronica Mars” (WB 2004- ) fame and was penned by horror legend Wes Craven.