Visiting with Tracee Ellis Ross on the Set of black-ish
The stunning Tracee Ellis Ross met with us on the set of ‘black-ish a few weeks ago during our Disney press trip. She walked us through the Johnson’s home (family on ‘black-ish), answered questions and took pictures with us. She is such an extraordinary person and so welcoming!
ABC/Bob D’Amico
First of all, if you aren’t familiar with ‘black-ish.. shame on you! You should be watching this hilarious comedy. It follows Andre ‘Dre’ Johnson (Anthony Anderson), his beautiful wife Rainbow Johnson, (Tracee Ellis Ross) and four kids (Yara Shahidi, Marcus Scribner, Miles Brown, and Marsai Martin). Dre has a great job and they live in a colonial style home in the ‘burbs. Tracee said each half hour episode takes about five days, several hours a day.
Working with Kids
BLACK-ISH – ABC’s “black-ish” stars Marsai Martin as Diane Johnson, Miles Brown as Jack Johnson, Yara Shahidi as Zoey Johnson, Marcus Scribner as Andre Johnson, Jr., Anthony Anderson as Andre “Dre” Johnson, Tracee Ellis Ross as Rainbow Johnson, and special guest star, Laurence Fishburne. (ABC/Bob D’Amico)
The kids on a set have strict guidelines on how many hours they can work. The kids on ‘black-ish have set blocks for school and work throughout the day so they can still getting their education.
I love that you can watch it with your kids and it’s really fun.
– Tracee Ellis Ross on ‘black-ish
Tracee said it is really joyful the wonderful people she works with every day. She has had such a good experience with the kids she works with on set. We met Marcus Scribner (Andre Johnson, Jr.) during an interview for The Good Dinosaur and he was a great kid. Tracee said they are really blessed to have such a natural connection between all of them on set.
Being Authentic
Tracee has a lot of input on her wardrobe on the show. They have an incredible costume designer, led by Michelle Cole. Her character, Bow, has a much different style than Tracee. Bow doesn’t wear heels ever. Tracee wears heels all the time. Bow rarely wears a heel, which she finds liberatingly wonderful. It’s so great to not put heels on.
Tracee said she doesn’t know a mother of four with a career and a husband a that can spend a ton of time putting together looks and doing the whole thing. She’s so right! It takes a lot of work. Her character does not wear a lot of makeup or jewelry. The way Bow pulls from her closet is the way people pull from their closet which is usually a dress and sneakers or jeans and a cute top.
I like to keep it really authentic.
– Tracee Ellis Ross says about her character Bow
She removes the mascara and any makeup from her character when she is in bed. Tracee wants to keep it authentic. I mean, who wears makeup in bed anyways? It’s a pet peeve of Tracee’s when you see an actress wake up with lip gloss. And somehow it’s not on the pillow? Interesting. It’s hilarious. It’s so funny. She is so right!
Speaking of wardrobe, check out Anthony Anderson’s character ‘Dre’s closet and shoes!
She Can Sing Too
Of course, we all know Tracee Ellis Ross is the daughter of legendary singer Diana Ross. During her mom’s final show last week at The Venetian Theater in Las Vegas her mom invited her on the stage for a surprise song! Tracee has a great voice! I can’t wait to see if one day she lets us hear it more!
Tracee couldn’t pick just one episode as a favorite but she did tell us about one that got her really excited. On a recent episode they went to Brown University, Tracee’s alma mater. They didn’t actually film at Brown but she said it was a really fun episode especially when she sang a Brown song. One of their Executive Producers also went to Brown so that made it really fun for them.
She also really liked the Churched episode where the family members have a great time when they accept a neighbor’s invitation to attend church. She thought everybody was so funny, the writing and direction was great. Overall, Tracee thought it was a great one.
I love this show. I mean, I laugh when I watch it.
– Tracee Ellis Ross on ‘black-ish
We do too!
Tune in tonight for the Man at Work episode of ‘black-ish on ABC 9:30/8:30c
Bow is not happy when Dre’s childhood friend (guest star Faizon Love) crashes at the house, and the ex-wife of Stevens & Lido’s founding partner (played by Wanda Sykes) changes things up for Dre at work.
‘black-ish stars Anthony Anderson as Andre “Dre” Johnson, Tracee Ellis Ross as Rainbow Johnson, Yara Shahidi as Zoey Johnson, Marcus Scribner as Andre Johnson, Jr., Miles Brown as Jack Johnson, Marsai Martin as Diane Johnson and Laurence Fishburne as Pops.
Guest starring is Wanda Sykes as Daphne Lido, Faison Love as Sha, Peter Mackenzie as Mr. Stevens, Jeff Meacham as Josh, Deon Cole as Charlie Telphy, Catherine Reitman as Lucy and Issac Ryan Brown as Young Dre.
Man at Work was written by Vijal Patel and directed by Kevin Bray.
‘black-ish was created by Kenya Barris and is executive-produced by Barris, Anthony Anderson, Laurence Fishburne, Helen Sugland and E. Brian Dobbins. The series is produced by ABC Studios.
Twitter: @black ishABC
Hashtag: #blackish, #ABCTVEvent
‘black-ish airs Wednesday nights 9:30/8:30c on ABC.
Wow! i love the show and her! This was great to read!