Tracee Ellis Ross on Directing and Growing Up with Diana Ross
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Director and actress Tracee Ellis Ross was born in Los Angeles to music executive Bob Ellis and singer Diana Ross. Yes, THE Diana Ross!
For a while she worked in indie films and made for TV movies, then in 2000 she broke through on the sitcom "Girlfriends" - she starred as Joan Clayton. The show ran for eight smash hit seasons on UPN and the CW.
In 2014, she took on a role in a new series: ABC's "Black-ish." Starring alongside Anthony Anderson, Tracee plays Dr. Rainbow Johnson, an anesthesiologist who's married to Andre, Anderson's character. The show focuses on Dre and Bow, as they're called. They've settled down in the suburbs and started a family. As the kids grow up and the family settles in, Dre and Bow realize the life their kids are leading is very different from their own. The show touches on race, class, and politics.
The role has earned Tracee a Golden Globe award for Best Actress, and now she's up for the same honor at this year's Emmys.
Tracee talked with Karen Tongson, professor of English and Gender studies at USC, and co-host of Pop Rocket, Bullseye's sister show over here at Maximum Fun.
In their conversation, Tracee and Karen go deep into her acting and work directing Black-ish, and she talks about what it was like to grow up in a New York apartment when your mom is Diana Ross.
You can stream or buy all four seasons of Black-ish on a bunch of different platforms right now. Like we said before, she's up for the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series at the Emmy Awards this year. Wanna see if she'll win it? Tune in September 17.