Jenna Dewan Tatum Dishes Out the Best Advice You’ll Ever Hear
Jenna Dewan Tatum Dishes Out the Best Advice You’ll Ever Hear
For Glamour’s September issue, we photographed 54 incredible women across America and asked them to define themselves. The results were brilliant, funny, and inspiring and create a stunning portrait of what it is to be a woman in America today. (As our editor-in-chief puts it: “We’re all unicorns.”) Here, Jenna Dewan Tatum discusses her mom’s best beauty advice, Internet privacy, and who she really dresses for.
GLAMOUR: What does it mean to you to be a woman in 2016?
Jenna Dewan Tatum: To me, being a woman in 2016 means having a voice, being unique, being true to yourself, and finding a way to be of service.
GLAMOUR: What’s the best piece of advice you’d give to women and girls reading Glamour?
JDT: My best piece of advice I could give to all of the women and girls reading Glamour is really to honor and love your own uniqueness and to celebrate that and to really work hard not to try to be something you’re not.
GLAMOUR: If you could rewrite your Wikipedia page, what would the first line be?
JDT: Funny, you won’t believe this, but I have actually never read my Wikipedia page. But if I were to know what it says, if I were to rewrite it, I would say, “Jenna Dewan Tatum, dancer, actress, producer, who has influenced women around the world to follow their dreams.”
GLAMOUR: Perfect. I love that. Who doesn’t aspire to do that?
JDT: Right?
GLAMOUR: What is the best fashion or beauty advice you’ve learned in the course of your career? And who gave it to you?
JDT: I have so many. My mom actually told me, so silly, but she said, “Always put sunscreen on your face, your neck, and your hands.” For whatever reason, that always sticks out to me. So in the morning I constantly, protect face, neck, and hands because, you know, everyone just does their face. We don’t realize the sun is affecting the rest of your body. That was just random beauty advice she gave me. Also, I would say one other thing is, “Simple is good, but more is more fun.”
GLAMOUR: Whom do you dress for, and do you feel pressure to be stylish?
JDT: I dress for myself, a thousand percent. I really don’t feel pressure to be stylish because I really love dressing up. I’m one of those girls who enjoys the fashion, enjoys dressing up, enjoys going to these events. They’re fun for me. It’s like playing a different side of my personality every time, so I look at it as like a fun element of what we do. I know a lot of people it’s like, “Oh, I’ve got to do this, and I’ve got to dress for this.” I really just wear what I like, what I’m feeling comfortable with, which is generally something with sequins and [laughs] something glitzy. I have a really great relationship with Brad, my stylist. We have fun—we make the whole process fun, so I enjoy it.
GLAMOUR: What’s the best personal care or self-care technique you’ve learned over the course of your career, and who taught it to you?
JDT: Definitely moisturizing. I use straight Argan oil. Actually, a makeup artist told me this about 10 years ago. She said you can use all the different creams in the world, but using straight Argan oil has totally transformed my skin. I have really dry skin. It gives me moist skin. I think it keeps you young. It’s also natural, and it’s been a fantastic beauty tip I’ve always kept.
GLAMOUR: In what ways would you consider yourself American and in what ways not?
JDT: Well, I’m definitely American in the way that I enjoy my freedom. I love that I’m allowed to have a voice; I’m allowed to speak it freely. I think as a woman, we are given a lot of support and to be ourselves should we find that and follow it. I feel that that is a very American thing. I’ve gone to other countries, and they don’t have the luxury of that freedom. I know that I’m really blessed and aware of that. I love holidays, I barbecue, I drink beer [laughs], I enjoy freedom. Ways I’m not American? I don’t own a gun.
GLAMOUR: How do you think you have it easier than young women in Hollywood who came before you? And how do you think you have it harder?
JDT: I think young girls that are, you know, coming up are really entering into this world of no privacy in this business with all the social media and just really in general. There’s literally no wall of privacy anymore. And I think that being young, being 19, 20 and an actress coming into this world, being a woman in general, having that lack of privacy must be really crazy. There are no secrets. There’s nothing that’s just for you anymore. It’s all readily available on the Internet. People can find it. I think that’s harder for girls, especially for teenagers and young women that are trying to define who they are, trying to figure out how they feel about themselves and their own body. And I think there are so many opinions of other people who are in their head that I believe it’s hard to hear their own voice. Ways I have it easier? There is a new wave of momentum for women in Hollywood—and, in general, in the world. I think that we in one hand are having bigger struggles than we’ve had, but on the other hand, we have some really amazing opportunities. Women are starting to write, direct, create their own shows. Studios are actually saying to me and the people I know, “We want women-driven product. We want a movie written and directed by a woman.” They’re looking for that. And I think that wasn’t happening 10 years ago. It’s happening now, so there is something there that is making it more creatively possible to do wonderful things as a woman.
“Jenna Dewan Tatum is a frustrated fairy stuck in human form, posing as an actress-dancer in L.A. She can throw a punch better than her husband. Oh, she can also eat her weight in chips and salsa. And she believes we are capable of anything.”
Dewan Tatum, 35, is also a producer and mom.