E-mail a friendTracee Ellis Ross
airdate May 11, 2005
Tracee Ellis Ross is creating her own legacy. The daughter of megastar Diana Ross, she was named one of the American Elite 1000 Leading Ladies, which recognizes women who are redefining the rules for success. As a teen, Ross graced the pages of top fashion magazines. She studied theater at Brown University and worked as a fashion editor for Mirabella and New York magazines. Her big break came as host of Lifetime's The Dish. Ross is currently wrapping her fifth season on the hit UPN series Girlfriends.
Tracee Ellis Ross
Tavis: Tracee Ellis Ross is a beautiful and talented actress who's about to finish up her fifth season--I can hear the money, ka-ching, ka-ching--finishing up five seasons on UPN. The series you well know--"Girlfriends." Off camera, she finds time to give back to the community. Recently the L.A. urban league named her the volunteer of the year for 2004. Congrats on that, Tracee. But this month it's all about the season finale of "Girlfriends." The series wraps up for the year on May 23rd at 9:00 p.m. Did I say May 23rd at 9:00 P.M.? I think I did. Here now a scene from "Girlfriends."
Joan: Oh, my God. We haven't laughed like this in so long.
William: Oh, I know. I'm just having fun with you.
Joan: So there's nothing deep and dark and unresolved that we need to resolve?
William: Probably, but who cares?
Joan: I'm so glad we're back to normal, William. And who knew it would take two bottles of gin and one jar of olives?
Tavis: Tracee, nice to see you.
Tracee Ellis Ross: Hi.
Tavis: You all right?
Ross: I'm very good. I was chuckling at the clip. I was still watching. I was waiting for more. That's the whole point, you tease people.
Tavis: You like your work?
Ross: That's such an odd question. I do watch myself.
Tavis: That's not odd because some people do and some people don't.
Ross: I'm proud of my work, yeah.
Tavis: But it doesn't trouble you to watch it, though?
Ross: No, I actually--
Tavis: Some folk come on and, like, oh, no, I can't watch anything I do. I can't watch anything I do.
Ross: No, I actually really like to watch it for many reasons, most of which are technical. I like to see how they're covering, how they're editing to make sure what I like gets in, things like that. It gives me a sense of their rhythm as editors in the show. I mean, I pretty much got it down now.
Tavis: I hope so after five years.
Ross: Wouldn't you hope? It would be kind of sad if I didn't. But I like to know the rhythm. In the beginning, it was really important for me to watch to get a sense of what they took, what they liked and what they liked, then I would kind of tweak into what I like. That kind of thing.
Tavis: Yeah. I made the joke earlier about ka-ching, ka-ching. First of all, you guys are already in syndication, so that's just like ka-ching, ka-ching, ka-ching. After five seasons, now you can live forever in syndication.
Ross: I will say that the myth of living forever after you're syndicated is no longer what it was, simply due to the fact there are so many different networks and TV is spread out in such a different way that it's not like you're on NBC, then you sell it on UPN and it sells there in syndication and that's just the way it is. We are on BET, we're on UPN. Da da da da da da da da. I make very good money.
Tavis: I see you, like, 12 times a day. Whenever I turn it on, you're somewhere.
Ross: And that is sometimes slightly alarming for me. But I will tell you this is my first hiatus that I've been on. The show is still airing, but we've actually wrapped our season. But this is my first hiatus since being in syndication, and we've picked up an entirely new audience. And I can tell you that being recognized is very different now. Because I'm out in the streets more and just doing my thing because I'm not just in my rhythm of working. And it's intense, it's really different, and it's wonderful. The amount of people and the different kinds of people that watch the show, not just our typical UPN audience that we had before.
Tavis: That's what happens when you're on 12 times a day.
Ross: Isn't it just lovely?
Tavis: I'm sure the people at UPN would appreciate me clarifying what Tracee said. It's just Hollywood speak. So you've wrapped taping the show, but you want folk to watch May 23rd because that last episode has not aired yet. Just want to be clear about that.
Ross: Let's be clear. That Monday night at 9:00, our season finale has not happened yet, so what I have finished you are still watching.
Tavis: There you go. Just thought I'd clarify that.
Ross: Thank you. I'm so glad you did. Sometimes I'm so in the layman's terms.
Tavis: I'm just looking out for you. What can I tell you? But unless I missed something, this is now the longest running and most successful show on UPN.
Ross: I believe so, but that's a tidbit of factual information that I'm not perfectly clear on.
Tavis: We should check that. Fact check.
Ross: That's some lovely trivia that I would love to know. I know that it's an extraordinary experience as an actress, extraordinary for so many reasons.
Tavis: Did you think it would or could last this long? Let's face it, there has not been a series about black women, four sisters, that has had the run that you guys have had on television.
Ross: And let's be clear for the layman, we don't mean sisters. We're not related by blood. I'm kidding.
Tavis: Oh, so now we're checking each other. OK.
Ross: No, no, I'm just kidding.
Tavis: I had that coming. Go ahead. Go ahead.
Ross: But, you know, "Sex in the City" didn't run this long. "Sex in the City" didn't get to 100 episodes. It is such a huge thing. Did I think from the beginning that we would? It was out of my frame of reference completely. I didn't even have the forethought to think would we go this long? I had no idea. I knew we had a good show. I know that our chemistry existed from the start. Our writing was good from the start. But our show has gotten better each year, so it's one of those things like I had no idea. I mean, you have no idea it was going to happen, and it was one of the most extraordinary gifts on so many different levels, workwise and getting your comfort level and ease and comfort in your skin in my job has been amazing. The chemistry that's been able to develop between the writers and the cast and the cast and the cast and the--just to allow a show to breathe for this much time that's already good gives you great television. I mean, I watch the show sometimes and I've taped it and I've done it and I'm just tickled pink by it. I'm like, God, that's good.
Tavis: There are two things about the series that have gotten my attention consistently over the five years. In no particular order, one, that it is a show that features four black women, but the things that you all cover on the show are universal, which is unique. But the other thing that gets my attention as well is that while it is a sitcom, you all have not shied away from--the writers have not shied away from covering topics that can be tricky.
Ross: Can be tricky, can be heavy, can be complicated, can be layered. One of the things that our show creator and executive producer Mara Brock Akil has consistently strived for and pushed for is that we are a show that is real, so our humor comes out as the reality of a situation, not out of shtick. We add that in, but it's not the groundwork for what our show is based on. So it's based on real relationships, real people. And what that does as an actor and as an individual is allow you to play a multifaceted character. And on television in general women have not been necessarily able to play and haven't been written for in a multifaceted way, let alone black women. So it's been an incredible gift that Mara has given us. And we were four somewhat unknown actors. All of us had worked to different varying degrees, but we were nameless on some level and given an opportunity to be in these positions. She also really wanted us to have different shades of skin color, and I think that's another incredible thing on our show.
Tavis: For those who just missed that point, let's back up for a second.
Ross: OK.
Tavis: Why should that matter and why does it still matter?
Ross: Why should it matter? It shouldn't.
Tavis: Exactly. I was hoping you were going to say that, but it does.
Ross: But it does.
Tavis: So why does it?
Ross: The reason I believe it does is because there are so few images on television of us as people of color, that when we get an opportunity to be in a position that we are in on "Girlfriends," continuing to show the many different faces of who we are is of huge importance, I think. It's one of the things that, for example, with "Diary of a Mad Black Woman" and "Barbershop" and all these wonderful successes that we've had, which are of huge importance, still do not represent all of us. The same way Pamela Anderson doesn't represent, you know. And our show represents a cross section, including our point of view, which I really enjoy, that we don't always use one point of view, you know.
Tavis: Got about two minutes left. Let me cover two issues, if I can, to divide this time up. First of all, tell me what your being biracial, what that gives you in terms of the way you navigate, the way you operate, the way you connect that, say, someone who is not biracial doesn't have, particularly in this multicultural world that we live?
Ross: For me in the most simplest--the simplest way to put it, it's given me a comfort with difference. I intrinsically do not judge a book by its cover. I operate from a human level, which is a very interesting thing. I don't play a mixed woman on "Girlfriends."
Tavis: You don't. Exactly.
Ross: And there are differing opinions in that at times. But I think the simplest way to put it in our little time we have left, it has given me a comfort with difference that I really appreciate, and combined with my mixed heritage is also the fact I lived in Europe for many years.
Tavis: See, now you're jumping ahead of me. That's my second issue. You lived in Paris and Switzerland.
Ross: I lived in Paris and Switzerland and I used to speak French pretty fluently. What that did for me combined with my mixed heritage is take me very much out of what I believe can be a very American standpoint, which is us versus them or me versus you or I versus them, into a we. And that really is my M.O. for living, that I kind of come from a standpoint of people and human beings as opposed to always focusing on the difference between.
Tavis: You can check out Tracee Ellis Ross and her cohorts from "Girlfriends" on "Girlfriends" at 9:00 P.M. on UPN. The season finale, May 23rd.
Ross: It's a good one.
Tavis: They all are, Tracee. Nice to see you.
Ross: Nice to see you.
Tavis: That's our show for tonight. A reminder--you can catch me on public radio this weekend and every weekend on PRI-Public Radio International. Check your local listings. See you back here next time on PBS. Until then, good night from L.A., thanks for watching, and keep the faith.
Back to May 11, 2005