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I arrive at Bar Margot at the Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta around lunchtime. It is the last Saturday of February. The restaurant is hosting a number of patrons, including This is Us' Justin Hartley, who is dining at an adjacent table. I spot Tika seated nearby and wave; she is wrapping up lunch with a girlfriend. She joins me at my table; the waiter brings over her leftover glass of Chardonnay. Tika is dressed in an olive green athleisure set and her black hair is in long braids that flow down to her hips. She is undoubtedly a classic beauty, but her beauty is further accentuated by her warm, animated personality (her sweet thank-you text message after our interview, with spot-on GIFs, cracked me up) and ever- present grin (we laughed a lot). So refreshingly affable, I barely believe Tika when she tells me (later on in our interview) that fans might be surprised to find out that she is actually introverted. "They wouldn't recognize that when they see me in interviews, but in my life, I'm the quietest one in the room," says Tika, who prefers reading a book or curling up on the couch and not talking over socializing. "I know I have to do it because I'm in this business, but it takes a lot for me to actually cut through that and like, suit myself up and go talk. I could just be quiet and disappear. Sometimes, at family gatherings they're like, 'Where's Tika?' I'm out. I'm like in the room, door closed, nobody knows where I am. I'm like, Do I need therapy? I'm in therapy, but I'm like, Do we need to talk about that?" She laughs and flashes that gorgeous smile of hers. Tika has much to smile about. The Queens, New York-born actress has been working in the entertainment industry for over fifteen years now, appearing in films alongside Hollywood heavyweights (Ride Along 1 & 2, Get on Up, The Old Man & the Gun) and in highly-acclaimed TV series (One Life to Live, Gossip Girl, The Haves and the Have Nots), but this past year has brought with it a whirlwind of achievements. You could say that Tika has been busy, but that would be an understatement --she completed her script, launched two businesses, saw her new TV series [Mixed-ish] reach "hit" status, and watched her latest film [Sonic the Hedgehog] gross $306 million worldwide and become the highest-grossing video game film adaptation of all time in North America. At the time of our interview, Sonic the Hedgehog was thriving in theaters. "It was almost like I was wondering if I was working a job 'cause I was like, we're having so much fun," Tika says about working on Sonic, the video game franchise published by Sega. "James Marsden and I, all we would do was laugh. Literally, the entire... I'm like, Are we getting anything done? And we did. Jeff Fowler, the director, made it such a fun set that you couldn't do anything but be happy to be there, and we were. We were just super happy," Tika gushes. The role of Maddie --the wife of town sheriff, Tom, played by James Marsden-- sort of fell into her lap. Surprisingly, Tika's audition happened at their table read. "James was there and all these… Neal Moritz, who is a huge producer. The table was super long, super intimidating, and I was there and I was like, I'm reading a role that's not mine yet." She laughs. "I knew I wanted to be a part of it because Sonic was something that I grew up on. I just knew this is going to be special, fun... After that, they're like, 'Yeah, you got it!' --right at the table," she laughs. In addition to James and Tika, Sonic's cast includes Adam Pally, Ben Schwartz, and Jim Carrey, who portrays Dr. Robotnik. "Jim Carrey came on set, it was like, he's so kind. I think people expect him to be this like, I don't know what people expect super superstars to be, but every time people are like, 'How was he to work with? Was he nice?' I'm like, 'He's so kind to us.' So, it was a dream come true." It was a treat to see Jim's eccentricity back on the big screen (I saw Sonic in theaters the night before my interview with Tika). Tika and I recollect our introduction to Jim via the Fox sketch comedy series, In Living Color. "Mmmhmm, that's when I first saw him. That's why working with him or being in a movie with him is every actor's dream, because I grew up watching him and he became this superstar from there. But, he's also an incredible person to be around. We all had dinner like, two weeks ago, and he's incredibly grateful for the support this film has had, because he really hasn't done a film in a really long time. He just kept saying, 'We are so blessed.' And I just took that in; he's still grateful at this point in his career," she muses. Presently, Sonic is the second highest-grossing film of 2020. And to think, Sonic almost missed its mark. After Sonic's first trailer (in 2019) received negative reviews, the studio delayed the film three months to do a redesign. "I'm super surprised that Paramount actually listened to the people. People who are superfans of Sonic, they know Sonic, and they know the world. And they [Paramount] listened, which does not happen in our industry… And it was probably the best thing they did, because it's #1 two weeks in a row," says Tika. Recently, Tika wrapped up the filming of the first season of ABC's new TV series, Mixed-ish. When the trailer for this sitcom first debuted, I was intrigued. The prequel spin-off of Black-ish chronicles Rainbow 'Bow' Johnson's early years and her experience growing up in a mixed-race family in the 1980s and her family's assimilation from the hippie commune to the suburbs. Tika plays Alicia Johnson, a mother of three (Bow, Johan, and Santamonica) and a lawyer, who works for her father-in-law, played by Gary Cole. Mark-Paul Gosselaar portrays Alicia's husband, Paul Johnson. "Alicia is a very smart, but vulnerable, very free, and open woman, who is kinda quirky and silly --that's kinda where Bow gets her quirkiness and her not-so-great dancing moves. It's a role that I'm so grateful that I was able to get, and that Kenya Barris [creator of Black-ish and Grown-ish] saw parts of Alicia in me enough to say, 'Can you come read for the role?' It's part of this really cool universe, which not only tells something funny, but is also socially impactful --you learn something, but without being beat over the head. I'm just grateful to be part of this planet, of the -ish universe," says Tika. I've been watching Mixed-ish since its premiere and have fallen in love with the Johnsons. The entire cast is bursting