For our annual Black Women in Hollywood issue, ESSENCE’s West Coast Editor Regina R. Robertson caught up with star of the smash hit series, black-ish—and girlfriend in our heads—Tracee Ellis Ross for a special double cover.
The 42-year-old, who gives us a serious case of closet envy, wore a Byron Lars Beauty Mark dress and Sophia Webster pumps for the first cover, and a Jay Godfrey frock and her own shoes—of course!—for the second image.
Although the actress is, as she describes it, “living the dream” after finding a home in another successful sitcom, she is “happy-exhausted” by the grind, which includes “14-hour days, five days a week.”
Ross shared what she loves about playing Bow Johnson, a doctor and a happily married mother of four kids, alongside small-screen hubby, Anthony Anderson.
“I like being the ‘hot mommy,'” she says. “Also, I find that on TV, marriage gets a really bad rap. It’s this thing that you never want to do, and the comedy comes out of what people hate about being married. What drew me to black-ish is that this couple loves each other and the comedy comes out of that.”
She continues: “I want to have a family, so until that time comes, this show is a brilliant substitute.”
To find out how her mother, Diana Ross, kept Tracee humble while she was growing up, who her comedic influences are, and how she sometimes sees bits of Girlfriends‘ Joan in Rainbow, pick up the March issue of ESSENCE Magazine, on newsstands now!