Daughter of a diva embraces own voice
Tracee Ellis Ross returns to film roles in part that brought tears to mom Diana
Tracee Ellis Ross swears she’s been eating well while sheltering in place in her Los Angeles home; bouillabaisse was on tap for the evening. But she apologizes for munching away during an interview with The Chronicle.
“I’m sorry to chew in your ear,” she says sweetly. “I was dying to put something in my mouth, I’m so sorry. I’ve got peanut butter and an apple here. I needed a little fuel.”
Ross, who has built a veritable empire on the small screen, has been on the phone all day promoting what would have been her return to the big screen after an absence of many years. “The High Note,” which stars Ross as a renowned diva looking to sustain her career while overlooking the true talent of her personal assistant, played by Dakota Johnson, was supposed to open in theaters across the country on May 8, but those plans were derailed by the coronavirus pandemic.
Instead, “The High Note” will be available on demand beginning Friday, May 29.
“I was stunned,” Ross said about receiving the news of the canceled theatrical release. “We were so close. ... I was disappointed, but you know I’m really big on perspective. People are losing lives and livelihoods, and there’s so much happening.
“Particularly in this time, it even has more of an opportunity to bring joy, and in people’s homes is just as good as the big screen . ... I hope it brings some lightness in the midst of some heavy stuff.”
Ross is proud of her work on “The High Note” — indeed, it’s a performance that’s bigscreen worthy — and not just because of her charismatic turn as a Madonna/ Beyoncélike force of nature. She did all of her own singing and has five songs on the movie’s soundtrack, which also releases Friday, May 29.
One of the songs, “Love Myself,” was released on May 15 to whet the appetite.
“I loved the performing,” Ross said. “I got to be onstage doing two live performances and live singing, and that definitely sparked a fire in me. It was a dream come true.”
Ross said she worked with a vocal coach in the months before filming began and put her all into practicing and rehearsing.
“I certainly didn’t realize how much you use your abs when you sing,” she laughed. “I’m not joking. To pull the air from your gut from down there, you really gotta use your abs. So it was a workout.”
Ross said she was pleased to cultivate what she called a husky voice that she used in two of the tracks.
“It was a good time to call someone you want to flirt with!” she laughed.
But was it good enough to convince an audience that she was a famous singer? There was one opinion that she prized most of all. She was relieved to receive a good review from her mother, Diana Ross, who is also an Oscarnominated actress.
“She heard the music, and she cried,” Tracee Ellis Ross said. “It was really exciting.”
In fact, one might be tempted to draw parallels between Grace Davis, Tracee Ellis Ross’ diva, and Diana Ross — both stylish, powerhouse talents. But the younger Ross says don’t go there.
“I understand the curiosity and the desire to link the two, but the truth is Grace Davis has nothing to do with my mom,” Ross said. “Yes, she’s in that same genre, but Grace Davis was already on the page as a fully formed, extraordinary woman, and I didn’t really need to look anywhere else but the page to find who this woman was.
“But what I was grateful to do and what I liked about the way she was written was I think so often in the world we forget that these people who are larger than life, who have done these extraordinary things and touched us so deeply with their music, that they are real people,” she continued. “We’re able to see her fears and securities, as well as how big she is.”
Ross, 47, is eager to expand her bigscreen opportunities. She has starred in the wildly successful television shows “Girlfriends” (200008) and “Blackish,” which just finished its sixth season on ABC. “Mixedish,” a spinoff of “Blackish” that she cocreated and narrates, finished its first season on ABC and has been renewed.
“The High Note” gave her an opportunity she hadn’t had before to expand her talents. Her character had been successful a long time, but her maledominated record company and her manager (Ice Cube) want her to maintain what has worked for her in the past, instead of encouraging her to take risks.
Only her personal assistant, who idolized her growing up, pushes her to do something new.
And that’s what Ross is doing — taking on a role that is something new for her. She’s not “staying in her lane,” as she put it.
“It was a leap of faith. She (Grace) is very different from I am, so it was fun to inhabit a character that was a bit more over the top,” Ross said. “At no point in your life do we — any of us — stop dreaming or stop wanting to be challenged. Following your dreams and what you want shouldn’t get smaller just because you get older.
“The desire to keep growing, keep living, keep trying is always there.”