ABC/Richard Cartwright(LOS ANGELES) — Tracee Ellis Ross is ready for viewers to see the early beginnings of her black-ish character Rainbow Johnson in the new black-ish spinoff, mixed-ish.
The new series explores Rainbow’s backstory and follows her journey growing up in a biracial household in the suburbs during the 80s. Ross tells ABC Audio that she’s excited for the series to pivot to Rainbow’s life.
“On black-ish we often get to flashback into Dre’s childhood, but this is a show that is an opportunity for us to zoom back into a big flashback of where Bow comes from and who she is,” Ross says. “So, in essence is what the show is.”
Ross says while the news series will offer plenty of laughs, it will also provide a deeply relatable subject matter.
“It’s the story of being a fish out of water. It’s the experience that all of us have in many different ways,” she says. “And for many different reasons, where we are the one that is not like everybody else for some reason. And what that experience creates for you as a person, and how the journey is usually that you get to become more yourself.”
Of course, Ross will still get to play a part in the mixed-ish experience. She will also serve as the show’s narrator where she will be the one to tell Bow’s story.
“We get to follow through the eyes of Bow, her family and her childhood through the backdrop of the binary eighties, where people were using language that we all now know is not appropriate,” Ross says. “And being in that environment as she kind of walks her way through this coming off of the commune and into mainstream world.”
mixed-ish premieres tonight on ABC at 9 p.m. ET.
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