Up Close & Personal: Tila Nguyen

By Gary Castillo
Photography: Jason Mulroney

The saying, "Don't mess with Texas!" is 100-percent true when it comes to Houston bad girl Tila Nguyen. Tila's been in the import scene for quite some time now, and judging by the inquiring e-mail we've received she is a hottie that is way overdue gracing the Tuner cover. Tila started out in the import scene with Houston-based promoters for the Import Expo shows. Her popularity from there skyrocketed and she's gone on to bigger things, such as the Island Eyes calendars and Playboy. Tila now resides in Los Angeles, and according to her it's been a non-stop party out here. Making her debut in Import Tuner is Miss Tila Nguyen from Houston, Texas. By the way, this is probably the only girl that is more perverted than us.

2NR: I read on your website that you were a bad girl when you were younger.
TN: Yes, I was a gangster chick. I was really confused then, 'cause at first I thought I was black, then I thought I was Hispanic and joined a cholo gang. I'm not gonna say what gang I was in, but I even tried to do the Spanish accent. (Laughs) I think what got me really deep into the gang scene was the fact that I got sent away to the "Bad Kid" school. It was weird, because we were forced to dress up nice. A lot of the kids there had to take medication to calm them down, and we were constantly being watched. But the fact that I was sent to a place where all the kids were bad influenced me to be even worse than before. I remember the first day of school this big black girl wanted to beat me up. She was all saying, "I'm gonna beat your ass!" I'm only five feet tall but I used to kick ass! (Laughs)
2NR: Run us though one of your victories.
TN: I use to get into fights a lot when I was younger. This one time in middle school my friends didn't like this one cheerleader chick, so I told my friends that I was gonna hit her in the mouth 'cause she had braces. I also said I was gonna rub her face in the ground so her braces would cut her up even more and make her bleed really bad. Sure enough, I did everything I said I was gonna do and she was all bloody. Here's the weird part though. By the time I was in high school I happened to see her at a club one night, so I went up to her to apologize. I told her, "I don't know if you remember me, but we got in a fight in middle school, and I just want to apologize." She remembered and was fine with the whole thing, but then she started checking me out and saying, "Damn girl, you look good. I wanna eat you out!" I was all thinking, OK, I beat you up and now you want to get it on. That's weird! I think it all started when I was much younger though. When I was in middle school my older sister was in high school, and I used to hang out with her and all of her friends. She also hung with the bad kids, and when I used to tag along I would jump into their fights and throw in my cheap shots. I was only eleven, but to my friends in middle school I was considered pretty bad-ass since I kicked it with the older kids. In middle school all the kids' parents would pick them up after school, but I always had a carload of my sister's friends from high school pick me up. Now I look at it much differently. The bad kid in me comes out every once in a while, but I'm trying to change that. It's not as cool when you get older.
2NR: When was the last time the bad girl came out?
TN: Last weekend! (Laughs) I was at this club and this girl was all talking shit about me to my friend because of what I was wearing. I was all in this Goth-looking outfit, and my friend told me what she was saying, so when she walked by I tripped her and she turned to look at me and I was like, "Bitch!"
2NR: Hey good job of controlling your anger, huh? Since you were raised in Houston and now live in Hollywood, what are some of the differences between the two?
TN: I love the weather out here, and there are endless things to do, but at the same time I miss my family and friends in Houston. I love the simplicity that Houston has to offer. It's the small things, like how well you can see the stars at night and the sound of crickets when you go to sleep. It seems really hard to find down-to-earth people in L.A. It seems like a lot of people move out here to get noticed, so that tends to create a lot of competition. When I eventually have kids I would probably want to raise them in California, but somewhere away from the city.
2NR: Now that you know a lot of celebrities, are there any you want to get it on with?
TN: The one that I don't know but have seen in concert is Gavin Rossdale from Bush. He's engaged to Gwen from No Doubt. Oh man, if I ever met him I would just shit in my pants. Another person I think is hot--though he's not even my type--is Prince William. I would love to jump his bones. I just think he would make a great victim! Because he has to live by all kinds of rules and is raised well I would love to be the one that could say to him, "Come here and let me yank your wanker!"(Laughs) I like challenges.
2NR: What type of physical attraction do you look at in guys?
TN: I pay attention to what guys wear; it's a certain look that I like. Like I said, I hate pretty boys, but I like it when guys wear stuff like Converse, old thrift store shirts, chain wallets and beanies. I also like it when guys have really shaggy, greasy hair.
2NR: I'm gonna throw you a few quick questions. Is there a boyfriend?
TN: What's a boyfriend? (Laughs) No, I don't have a boyfriend. I don't want one for a while.
2NR: Real or fake?
TN: Real on the outside! They're fake, but they are proportioned to my body very well.
2NR: Top or bottom?
TN: Oh, are those the only choices? (Laughs) Just kidding, it depends on the level of experience.
2NR: How did you get started in the import industry?
TN: I know the guys from Import Expo and they've been wanting me to do it for a while, and I finally decided to do it. From that one show I started getting a lot of people that wanted to fly me out for calendar shoots and stuff. Originally I started going to these things just to travel around, but now I travel too much and it gets tiring.
2NR: Now that you have a fan base, what do you love and hate about being in the spotlight?
TN: I absolutely love my fans! But I wish that some of them would understand that when I'm at a car show and I'm taking thousands of pictures it can get very tiring. So one, don't try and feel me up and think I don't notice, and two, when the show's over I really just want to get to sleep--so when the show's over that means the pictures are over. I think that goes for a lot of models. And last, concerning my website, I want people to know that I do answer all the e-mail sent to me but I get tons of it. Sometimes I don't write that much, and sometimes it takes a long time for me to respond, so please just cope with me. I appreciate the e-mail, and I love answering it, but there is just so much.