At 48, Black-ish superstar and beauty mogul Ross is not slowing down one bit, breaking new grounds and living life fiercely and joyously in contentment. The actress graces cover of Marie Claire’s latest issue where she talked being joyfully single, career start, having the iconic Diana Ross for a mother and much more.
Coming on the heels of her bagging her very first leading film role in last year’s The High Note, topped up with signing a multiyear, multiplatform production deal with ABC, filming hit show, Black-ish where she stars as Dr. Rainbow Johnson executive producing the show’s hit spin-off Mixed-ish or running hair line Pattern, Ross’ schedule is super packed no doubt!
Excerpts:
On black people being forced to “fit” into a standard that does not have space for us, Ross says:
“Learning to love my hair in a world that doesn’t mirror that celebration has been a form of both resistance and the claiming of my identity, my selfhood, my legacy, my ancestral lines, the history that I come from.”
Reminiscing on early career and auditions in her early 20s, she opened up on feeling pressure to fit into every other person’s description of who she should be:
“I was so busy trying to be who I thought everybody else wanted me to be, and there was no space for me. I had wreaked havoc on my soul, and it was torturous.”
But her mega star mum always made sure her presence and support was felt;
On growing up with her mom Diana Ross:
“My mom put us to bed and woke us up and was there for dinner, never left for longer than a week,” she says. “She recorded after she put us to bed.” Despite this, Tracee, the second of Diana’s five children, struggled with having to share her with the world. “I was scared of the bigness of that life that was around me. Even with the safety of my siblings and my mom, there was a lot happening. A sense of having to be a particular way because everyone was always watching.”
“The assumption is, ‘Oh, you’re the daughter of someone famous. It must’ve flung open all the doors for you.’ It certainly brought a level of curiosity, but I think when she walked through the doors, people were like, ‘Now what?’ And she really had to figure out who she wanted to be as a performer and what she wanted to say.”
On being childless, contentedly single, and proud of it:
“I feel the sexiest I’ve ever felt; it’s going to waste in the pandemic,” she jokingly laments. On if she once longed for amore traditional life—with a husband and kids: “Well, how could you not? Our society spoon-feeds it to you. I used to put myself to sleep dreaming of my wedding,” she says. “And I would still love all of that, but what am I going to do, just sit around waiting? Shut up. I’ve got so many things to do.”
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Story @lolaogunnaike
