Marcus Scribner thought the end of Black-ish marked the end of his time as Junior Johnson, the doltish eldest child of the beloved Johnson clan dreamed up by Kenya Barris. But after a few cameos from his character on the Yara Shahidi-helmed Grown-ish, co-starring Trevor Jackson, Chloe & Halle Bailey, Luka Sabbat, and Diggy Simmons, he was tasked with taking the reins of the coming-of-age chaos at Cal U during its fifth season.
Scribner ended up having the privilege of carrying the beloved character from boyhood to manhood, showing the process of maturing and learning life lessons at the intersection of education and self-discovery known as campus life.
We caught up with the star of the hit Freeform coming-of-age dramedy on the eve of its finale episode hitting the airwaves to talk all things growing up Black-ish and moving on to the next phase of his life and career.
ESSENCE: You took over the reins of Grown-ish halfway through its story, becoming the new protagonist of the series when Zoey [Yara Shahidi] graduated and pursued a fashion career in NYC. What was that experience like, jumping in the driver’s seat of a popular spinoff sitcom with an already-established audience?
Scribner: Obviously, there’s so much history that I wasn’t a part of when it comes to Grown-ish. I had a few cameo episodes early on, but no long stint. So it was pretty cool coming into this cast that had already established a flow and a rhythm and figuring out where I fit in with Diggy [Simmons], Trevor [Jackson], and Yara. And then, establishing our new cast and seeing what Junior was like outside of the scope of his family and discovering who he was, was quite the journey.
On set, Grown-ish is so much fun each and every day. Overall, it was an amazing experience, and I’m definitely sad to see the show ending. It was a large part of my formative years and taught me so many lessons that I’ll take with me forever.
Grown-ish was initially told from a primarily female perspective of coming-of-age navigating life, friendship, sex, and dating as a young adult for the first time in an educational setting. But your character’s transfer to Cal U signified a transfer of the perspective to the male experience. Was it a challenge to get the audience on board with the new narrative?
It was definitely a challenge and I think we shook things up a ton. We brought in a whole new cast. Obviously, we had returning members with Diggy, Trevor, Yara, and that was really the anchor that helped ground us in the Grown-ish universe. I had a great time exploring Junior’s storylines and figuring out what was next for him. After Black-ish, I just thought the book was going to close. And [production] was like, “…But what if it didn’t?” So that was really exciting for me, getting to explore what he would be like outside of the nest, what his aspirations are, how he interacts with his new friend group, and learning new things.
Obviously, the old cast is beloved by all, and rightfully so. And Grown-ish had such an amazing flow with its love triangles – with Luka [Sabbat] and Trevor’s character and Yara, and all of those sorts of things. I think infusing a young male perspective from Junior gained us some new audience members. I’m hoping that people felt satisfied with where Zoey’s storyline was able to go and where it will end. I know this finale is going to be a banger, and I think people are going to be very, very pleased to see where the old cast lands.
You’ve taken this character quite literally from a boy to a man alongside your own journey into adulthood. You’ve been telling the story of Junior for over a decade. With the finale upon us, what does it feel like to say goodbye to this character?
I cried all my tears already on set, mostly for everyone else. Seeing people that you’ve known for 10 plus years, knowing that you’re not going to see them on a regular basis anymore. I feel like we built a family over there and everybody’s so supportive of each other, it’s unbelievable.
And don’t get me started on Junior. I started playing this character when I was 13. I’m 24 now, so I’ve seen him through the highs and lows of his life. We’ve had so many storylines that have paralleled things that have happened to me in [my own] life. I’ve learned a lot of things from him, and I feel like I’ve brought a lot of myself to the character as well. So it’s going to be crazy to say goodbye to a character that I care so much about and love, but I’m definitely ready to explore other characters and learn new things and keep expanding my toolset.