Tamera Tomakili delivers moving performance in the play ‘Flex’

By LOIS ELFMAN

Special to the AmNews

It’s a busy time for actress Tamera Tomakili, one of the stars of “Flex,” a play depicting a girls’ high school basketball team in rural Arkansas in 1998. “Flex” opened last week at the Lincoln Center Theater to enthusiastic reviews. In August, Tomakili will be seen in season two of “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty” on HBO, portraying a 1980 Cookie Kelly (now known to the world as Cookie Johnson), then the on-and-off girlfriend of Magic Johnson. Both roles provided an immersion into the world of hoops.

In “Flex,” Tomakili portrays the character Sidney Brown, a rising star on the basketball team who recently moved to Arkansas from Oakland, California. Her success frustrates team standout Starra Jones, played by Erica Matthews, causing Jones to do something diabolical. When it is discovered, Brown delivers deeply moving dialogue about teamwork.

“There was anxiety in that this character is very confident in her skills,” said Tomakili. “It’s not about cockiness—it’s more than that. It’s ‘I’m here to win…but I need a team to do that. I need a community to do that. If we want to win, we’ve got to do this together.’”

Portraying Sidney’s confidence from an acting perspective involved teamwork with her castmates, and so did mastering some of the basketball skills. While Tomakili grew up with a brother who played hoops, she did not.

“I looked at my brother after I booked this role and asked, ‘Are you going to help me with this because I don’t know what I’m doing?’” she said. “Before coming into rehearsals, it was definitely two months of practice with my brother, working drills, learning how to be confident handling the ball…and not being afraid.”

Tomakili grew up in Los Angeles, so she was well-acquainted with the Lakers and knew about Cookie and Magic Johnson, but diving into the early phases of their relationship and the Showtime era took research and rehearsal. She appreciates the connection that she and actor Quincy Isaiah depict.

“Growing up, they were a big influence in our community,” Tomakili said. “I knew I had to pay homage and respect…For me, it was watching interviews, reading her memoir, and finding what she believed in.”

While “Winning Time” has taken some dramatic license with the storytelling, the actors do depict very real basketball games. Tomakili was on hand for some of the action.

“It was very exciting seeing the camera angles,” she said. “It was the most beautiful thing to watch these guys work and bring in the choreography and gracefully position themselves for the cameras, and also make it so alive.”