Tracee Ellis Ross Opens Up About Last Day on Black-ish Set: “I Gave Myself Permission to Cry”

Tracee Ellis Ross opens up about the last day on set as the Black-ish final episode is around the corner. She sat down with People to discuss her character “Rainbow “Bow” Johnson” for the past eight seasons. 

“I leave this show with so much joy and pride, and I think what we created changed my life in that we really changed the landscape of modern prime time television,” says Ross. “I do think we opened a pathway for television that is more reflective of who we are as human beings. And so it was a real honor and life-changing to be able to work on another show that I feel so incredibly proud of.” 

Black-ish premiered in 2014, centered around a black family living the “American Dream.” In the show, Dre (Anthony Anderson) questions if his family is too caught up and spoiled and wants them to honor their roots being a part of black culture. The show was so much of a success that it got two spinoffs.

Grown-ish features their eldest daughter, Zoey Johnson, going off to college, Cal U, and Mixed-ish, which was about the upbringing of Rainbow Johnson, her parents. 

Ross continues, “My favorite thing in the world is the fact that parents across the board came up to me to say, ‘My 12-year-old will not do anything with me, but just looks at their phone when we’re together. But we watch Black-ish together, and it gives me 22 minutes to sit with my kid and laugh and talk.’ And then they usually say, ‘I get about 10 to 12 minutes after the show when we get to talk.’ To me, that’s the best part,” she shares.” 

“It’s one of the things I think our show has done from the beginning, so incredibly well. We don’t offer answers to all of these very sticky and sharp subjects, but we really pose all of the questions.”

Ross got her start in Hollywood from the sitcom, Girlfriends. A show about four friends from different backgrounds living through dating, career, and relationships in Los Angeles. 

ABC announced Black-ish’s last episode would be on April 19. “Then the last moment, they saved a particular scene in the episode for us to shoot last that was just me and Anthony,” she concludes. 

“I was like, ‘I literally can’t get through the rehearsal.’ And thank God I had kind of gotten the tears out so that you can hear my lines. And we only did it, we did it once for wide and then we came in on closeups twice. It’s very emotional. It’s a long time to be working with people and doing something you love, and it’s great.”