Miss Governor’s Drew Olivia Tillman: Inspiring Teens to Dream Big

By Iris Peña

Drew Olivia Tillman, a 19-year-old actress and singer, is inspiring young people to follow their dreams with confidence and authenticity. She has appeared in hit shows such as This Is Us (NBC), Mixed-ish (ABC), and FBI (CBS). Tillman now returns to Netflix’s sitcom Miss Governor in part two of season one. The series follows Mississippi’s first Black lieutenant governor and her family. Tillman plays Lola Dunkerson, the daughter of newly elected Lieutenant Governor Antoinette Dunkerson (Terri J. Vaughn).

Connecting With the Character

By playing Lola Dunkerson, Tillman gained insights that helped her grow both on and off screen. The role challenged her as an actress and revealed new layers of personal strength and awareness.

Identity and public perception are two key themes Tillman explored through Lola. “It really taught me not everything is what people may think, and to just stay true to myself and know who I am,” Tillman shared. “I didn’t want to lose myself in the public eye and lose myself in the commentary of what people think.”

She admires Lola’s confidence and her ability to command attention. Tillman uses her character as inspiration to strengthen her own self-assurance. “Sometimes with me, I fall victim to imposter syndrome; feeling like what I get, maybe I don’t deserve it or maybe I didn’t work hard enough. I try to remember that what is for me is for me and what I worked hard for, I do deserve,” Tillman expressed.

Breaking Out of Her Shell

Lola’s role demands both strength and vulnerability. Instead of waiting for confidence to come, Tillman steps on set ready to break down walls. Filming brought many firsts—it was her first time working without her parents, her first time stepping into adulthood on set, and her first time building new professional relationships on her own.

“Sometimes, I like to be the quiet person in the room taking it all in, but I had to get out of that and break out of my shell, so that I could play this character,” Tillman recalls. “I had to get close with my cast members and really feel the script, get into my vulnerable side with it, and not be afraid.”

Creating an Impact

At just nine years old, Tillman performed in Truth the Musical, a production celebrating Sojourner Truth’s life. It was her first chance to combine singing and acting.

The audience’s response amazed her and pushed her forward. “Not only can I connect and be vulnerable in music and singing, but also acting,” Tillman explained. Even though she doesn’t hear live reactions from television viewers, she still feels the impact of her work. For example, she once received an Instagram message from a young girl asking for advice on how to start in the industry. “I definitely teared up when I was reading that because I have nieces and younger cousins who look up to me. It’s always crazy to see that somebody else is looking up to me too, but I love that I’m able to share advice on that.”

Giving Back to Her Community

Tillman’s influence reaches far beyond television. Recently, she launched an initiative to give back to her hometown in Washington, D.C. To help open doors for youth, she is sponsoring a Scene Mastery acting workshop in partnership with the training program I Coach Stars. Six high school and college students from the DMV region will take part in a free virtual workshop led by I Coach Stars’ acting coach, Sharra Dade.

“I was really inspired to sponsor the Scene Mastery Acting Workshop. I feel like people may not feel like there’s a creative outlet in DC. I feel like everybody deserves to have an outlet,” Tillman said. “If you really have a passion that you love, you shouldn’t have to go super far to look for it and spend a lot of money. I definitely wanted to bring that back to my community.”

She credits Washington, D.C.—its culture, her family, and the foundation they gave her—as the reason she pursued the arts. Because local workshops are limited, Tillman wants to create more opportunities for young people who share her passion. “I hope the impact of it is you’re not alone, you can be creative, and you can chase whatever dream you have, even if it doesn’t seem like it’s right in front of you. You just have to look for it a little bit.”

Tillman delivers a powerful message to younger audiences: “To all the little girls and boys who hopefully sign up or are just maybe watching me, I hope that they can see that they can do it too and no dream is impossible.”

Showing Representation 

Tillman takes pride in representing young Black and Brown creatives through her work. “As a Black woman, I feel like we are in spaces that we might not always feel we’re accepted in and we may not feel like we deserve to be in,” Tillman said. “There is no space that is not intended for you that you wouldn’t be in. That message is so important and it goes stronger than passions and belief because you have to know it. You have to trust it.”

She sees it as a responsibility to be someone others can look up to—especially Women of Colour. Growing up, she wanted to see someone like herself in those spaces, and now she is becoming that role model for the next generation.