“Villain era” embracing actress Tiffany Black is pushing boundaries in Lifetime’s Not My Family: The Monique Smith Story and reflecting on what it meant to channel a character living in moral gray areas.
In the film, which chronicles the gripping true story of Monique Smith’s search for her biological family, Black plays Elizabeth, a mother at the center of pain, silence, and generational trauma.
At first glance, Elizabeth is the antagonist, but Black brings humanity to the role, portraying a woman marked by life, not malice.
The actress admitted to stepping into the villainous role without hesitation but with a deliberate aim to add nuance and truth.
“So here’s the thing: we need villains to balance out every story,” Black told Managing Editor Dani Canada. “And for me, it’s less about being mean, but more about giving the voice to the underdog — the person who is not doing the things that are easy to root for.
“We have to consider that hurt people hurt people,” she added. “When we heal, everybody else heals. I saw something online that said the best way to give a child a happy childhood is to make sure they have a happy mother. So my question was, what happened to Elizabeth that led her to do the things she did?”
It’s a question she asked repeatedly in preparation for the role.
Her process took a powerful turn when she met Monique Smith herself, the woman at the heart of this very real, very public story.
“When I met her, I was hoping that she had something that could inform my impressions of Elizabeth,” said Black. “What she told me was actually really refreshing… She said when I saw your audition tape, you sounded like her — to the point where you triggered me.”
That moment, equal parts validating and emotionally charged, gave Black the confidence to pursue the role with even more depth and empathy.
“If there’s something in my experience that’s mirroring really well to hers, then that’s what I want to give. I want to be accurate. I want to tell the story that she wants out into the world.”
Though the film is set in Baltimore, Black leaned into Elizabeth’s Southern roots, details that didn’t exist in the script, but surfaced through Monique Smith’s personal reflections.
“She said her mom was raised in the South. And of course, I’m from the South,” said Black. “There’s nowhere in the script that said that Elizabeth was Southern… So because I was able to talk to Monique, I was able to get a little more backstory.”
That creative attention extended to every corner of the production, especially in wardrobe and glam as the team carefully crafted Elizabeth’s looks throughout several periods.
“You have to let artists play,” Black told BOSSIP. “I support the actors who wanna have a say, who wanna be comfortable, but there’s a line, because they are artists too. I just feel so privileged. By the time I met Joshua, who did my hair, he had all of my wigs laid out before he even met me. That is so special. I don’t wanna get in the way of that.”
She also raved about makeup artist Michelle Rainey, recalling a time she beat her face “in the darkness” at 11 p.m.
“Behind the senes and in front of the camera, we are giving Black people space to be brilliant,” the star said with a smile. “We are showing our excellence even in darkness, figuratively and literally. I’m just proud to be part of it and that they saw it fit enough to give so much consideration to Elizabeth despite the part that she’s playing in this film.”
The set, led by Yaya DaCosta as Monique and helmed by director Talia Breon, became a sanctuary of Black excellence and mutual care.
“She’s [Yaya] so grounding. She’s so nurturing. And that girl is doing her work,” Black says. “Because of that, it’s an instant connectivity. It’s an instant taking care of each other… Did you get what you need? You want me to give you more?”
Black’s trust in Breon’s vision is unwavering.
“You can rest in the comfort of her preparation because she knows what she’s doing. And it makes you wanna show up and give you everything she needs.”
Even small creative battles reflected a deeper sense of thoughtfulness. Black wanted her character to smoke, a choice rooted in emotional realism, but Lifetime respectfully declined, so the actress pivoted to something else.
“They did not allow us to smoke on camera, which I understand,” she says. “I had to find something else… and a friend said, ‘Eat some sunflower seeds.’ I was like, I love that. There was just so much consideration.”
It worked. The substitution became symbolic — not just of Elizabeth’s nerves, but of the collective innovation required to bring the film to life under complex constraints.
“We made fun of it. It wasn’t like, ‘Oh, it’s more work.’ It was like, ‘We finna kill ’em with this.’ And that energy is transferable.”
That energy of community, collaboration, and care extends far beyond this film for Black.
Earlier this year, she served as acting coach to Grammy-winning artist SZA in the critically acclaimed buddy comedy One of Them Days, produced by Issa Rae.
“SZA is great,” Black says. “For as much as people love her, it’s well warranted. She felt like an instant friend… I was happy to work on the project — one, because she asked for help. That is so vulnerable. She said, ‘Can y’all send me an acting coach?’ And Tasha [Smith] sent me.”
Reflecting on her growing impact, Black lights up, not with ego, but with clarity of purpose.
“I’ve always wanted to direct my own projects. Now, I truly do feel like I have the confidence to do that. If I can get that performance out of SZA, I can do it with an entire cast, I know that.”
Watch our exclusive with Tiffany Black!
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