SmartLess - "Tracee Ellis Ross"

Episode Date: February 6, 2023

Put on your uniform and get your wiggles out: it’s Tracee Ellis Ross. We sit down and explore a cappella panic, crying in the mirror, and a village of unicorns. So organize your closet, it���s time for another searing episode of Star Search. Wait, scratch that – it’s SmartLess.Please support us by supporting our sponsors.Disclaimer: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. $10 Deposit req. Refund issued as non-withdrawable Sportsbook bonus bets, which expire in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See full terms at fanduel.com/sportsbook. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MI, NJ, OH, PA, IL, TN, VA), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), visit www.mdgamblinghelp.org (MD), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), 1-800-522-4700 (WY), or visit www.1800gambler.net (WV).See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey fellas. Hi, man. You guys look rested. Yeah, I'm feeling pretty good. Did you have nice dreams last night? I'm feeling a little sick. Huh. Talking to Will mostly. Sorry. Yeah, he looks great. Yeah. Will, you must have had some nice dreams, huh? I've had some really, some really sweet dreams. You remember them? You got a little, you got a little log book next to your bed? Yeah, I like to wake up and jot them down. And I just sort of jot them down and a lot of them and then I wake up and it's usually like math equations. Oh. Yeah. You figure a lot of stuff out while you're sleeping. Yeah, yeah, I just figured a lot of stuff out. You're crunching numbers, right? Oh, here, like this one, if I do,

I wrote this one. Why? And you've moved the equals to the power. Basically translation is welcome to wireless. Oh, great. Look at this. Look at this guy. Which guy? This guy. Ricky's got that. Is that Robbie? It's Ricky. Hey, Robbie. Ricky. His name's Ricky. Yeah, I know. Look at the size of this cone around his head. That looks like an expensive cone. Usually you just see just a regular plastic one that's kind of cloudy and you've got a fabric cone. Look at him. Look at his look on his face. He's got a, he had a, like a cyst, like a big bump, like a big ball on his butt. Like, uh, like, uh, oh, here we go. Yeah. Will. I can hear Will's cogs turning, writing something. No, hurtful. No. Why would I exist on his, on his, like bottom and they

gouged it out and so he has to wear this big cone. Speaking of balls on your bum, Jay, how's your weekend been? So they cut, so they cut, so they removed the balls from his bottom. Yeah. Like that. It was a big cyst on his tail. Gouged it out. And he was still able to get around there and, uh, and chew it, lick it, kind of agitate it. It was crazy. Yeah. Any chance he got. And so they put the cone on. How long's the cone been on the dog? About a month. He's got another month to go. Wait a minute. Yeah. It was pretty intense. I've never heard of a cone being on a dog longer than like a few days. Look at this, look at this tail. Oh, you can't see it. I can see it. Oh, I think you might want to look into a different vet, someone that might charge you a

little bit more, but do it right. Yeah. Two months with a cone. Maybe they can make a cone for you that stops you from eating Chinese food. You know what I mean? What would that look like? There's not a big enough one out there. No. No, he had a cone that was too small. So we had to sleep in shifts, Scotty and I, because he would, until we found the right size, because he's like a hundred pounds. I think your vet is really, um, causing you a lot more, a lot more problems than, uh, I know, but we, but we would, we would, um, we'd start, we started watching the crown. So we'd like, we'd watch an episode and then kind of like fall asleep, but we'd poke up and anyway, who cares? Yeah, I don't, uh, about, you didn't even need to speak when you just see it on your face. Don't

worry. So the crown would be your, your, your, your visual ambient. That was, yeah, because like for like a month we had to like sleep in shifts. So we'd, we'd each catch like an episode and then catch the other person up on what that episode is. Well, I sure hope your guest isn't somebody starring on the crown. This is my guest. It's his guest. Oh, it's your, well, I hope your guest is, clearly your guest is not a cast member from the crown. No, but I love the crown. The crown's really good. Why do you use it to fall asleep with them? No, I don't use it to fall asleep. We would, we would, that's what we do in the interim of, of, of swapping out. That's what they do. That's what they do to stay awake. Yeah. Huh. Yeah. The crown. Yeah, it was so good. It's very,

by the way, I'm so late to the party. Like, I know it's like 10 seasons. I'm, I'm even later. I just saw the first three episodes of white lotus finally. Oh, wasn't it good of the first season? The first season. Yeah. And I get it. I'm, I'm, I'm into it. I'm on it. Yeah. Come on in. Well, water's great. It's really, really good. I'm such a contrarian though that I'm like, no, everybody else has seen it. Really? Yeah. What'd you guys do on our little break in between shows? Uh, I made some reviews for white lotus. I just went and wrote scathing reviews, even though I'd never seen it. And I love Mike White. Yeah. Love that, Mike. Now, what'd you do, JB, on your little break ski? I made some oatmeal for my colon. And, and my daughter asked me a

bunch of questions about why I like it and why I told her. And then she tasted, she said, huh, I said, would you like me to make you a bowl? She goes, yes, a small one, please. I made her a bowl of oatmeal and she walked me through all of her studies that she's going through for chemistry right now. She's got a chemistry final coming up. And I never took chemistry in school. No way. Yeah. I don't know. I don't know how or why, um, but, uh, that looks difficult. Yeah. It's in their defense and your school's defense might be dangerous to do chemistry on the, on that bus on Wilshire. Buns and burners and beakers. You know what I mean? I told you that story about my, uh, yeah, you sure did. You don't remember anything, do you? Nope. No. You went to school on a bus,

on a bus, on a, well, just for one year. That was a heartlight one, but, but it was one continuous year. It never stopped moving the bus. It was just one. Well, no, no, those were just on the city days. The city days were on the bus, right? Where we go in and for, for the listener that hasn't heard this before, we, we, we drive the, the base of the school was out at this dude's house in Calabasas, which is out in the deep, deep West Valley, not accredited shocker this school. We would, we'd get on a converted full-size large yellow school bus where the back half of it was converted into desks. Front half was still. Was your driver Charles Manson or? He did smell of weed and patchouli, but I didn't get his name. And then, so we would have these

long drives into city as we go to these cultural places, like museums and whatnot. And the, and the, the hippie that, that started the school thought it might be productive to do schoolwork in traffic while we're on our way to these museums. That's why he converted the bus. So while we're on the venture freeway for an hour and a half, we do schoolwork. And then the country days, the odd days in the week, we'd be out at the house there and Santa in Calabasas. What if Will and I left our little, we were still telling the story. Yeah. No, but there's a teepee. And then on the weekend. Was school was, was, were country days at his house? Was it a lot of like raking,

raking his yard and like vacuuming his living room? You're not far off. We would start each day in the teepee. And then, and then we'd go into his house and you could, you could take history, math or massage. That's a true story. That's not true. Jason, this is creepy. And it was the, there were 20 kids all from like fourth grade to senior in high school. Well, who wouldn't take the massage, by the way? I mean, like you get out of class. The massage class was, was packed. Yeah. It's so creepy. All right. Well, that's why I'm so smart, you guys. Have you ever wondering why? I'm going to get right to our guest who has been so patiently

waiting. She's a very special girl. Really? Yeah. Besides her incredible talent, this woman is often praised for her impeccable style and fashion. She'd said that probably from an early age when she'd borrow her mom's clothing, when she saw her car pull out of the driveway in the morning, she'd borrow the, the clothes ditto. She's one of the co-founders of the times up movement, which she helped kick off at the 2018 Golden Globes the year after she won for best actress in black-ish. You guys, it's Tracy Ellis Ross. Tracy Ellis Ross. Whoa, look at her go. Now, you know, hello there. Listener, she's just wearing a simple blue

sweatshirt, maybe your sweater. And so, so you're, you're known for your styles, but yet you're keeping it very safe. I noticed that with hairdressers that are really good at hair, they're all, they have shaved heads. Well, that's interesting. I will say, I worked, I used to work in fashion. I worked, I was a, hi, all of you. Hi, hi. We'd like to jump right in. Hello. And I did notice back in the day that fashion editors would wear like sort of a blank canvas. Right, just a little uniform. Yeah, it was like, yeah, kind of like a uniform. Something super safe. Well, I feel like if you work in fashion, if you do fashion, if you love fashion, but no, I love the extravagance of it, the glamour.

Yeah, I think I said this before on the, on the, on the show, but not too Tracy. So, but you're so right because I went to this years and years and years ago, I went to Milan to watch this Armani show. And afterwards there was like this party. It's been like going to space for you. Yeah, absolutely. I was like, I have to leave now. And I went to the, then he had like this after party at his house and I asked one of the guys who worked there was like a waiter or something. I'm like, can I go look at his closet? Cause I wanted to see. It was all the same. All the same outfit. All the same outfit. Exactly the same. Yes. Really? 30 of the same outfit. What was the outfit? Black suit. No, well, no, it was a navy t-shirt and jeans.

Interesting. Really? Just a thousand pairs of jeans. There's a lot of freedom in that. Yeah. Yeah. It's like a uniform. Not for me. Serial killers do that too, I think. Yes. That's, that's one of the telltale size of a serial killer. I think Tracy's teacher wore that. The difference with a serial killer will is they don't have multiple pairs. It's just one. Yeah. Just the one. You're right. Nothing that shows blood too well either. You're right. And you just use, it's the same one. But you know what I'm talking about? The guy who's got the, you go to his closet and everything is the exact same. And then they do end up committing, if they, I'm not suggesting Armani did, but if that person, they said,

turns out they were serial killer, we'd say, was there ever any inkling that he would, yes. Yes. It was the first time. There was always an inkling. We never knew. We never knew. Yeah. No, we always knew. Wait, Trace. So first of all, hi, I love you. Wait now. So do you guys know each other? We, we, ish. Yeah. Oh, look at the way. Black ish. No ish. Plug in the show already. No, each other ish. No, each other ish. Should be. No, there's like a connection. There's a spiritual connection. I live for this girl. I love her. I think she's amazing. How did you meet, how did you meet you two?

I'm a Jimmy Kimmel show, but I think we met before that too. When I was the best host, and I, I interviewed you and Jimmy Kimmel. Yep. All right. So listen. So you were, you were born in LA, like, by the way, like Jason was. I was born in LA. Yeah. I did not go to school on a bus. Did not go to school on a bus. Yeah. I was going to get into that. That's what I was going to say. Yeah. There was no massage class. No, no. So I was born here in 1972, actually went to the center way back then, Center for Early Education, before it was this thing that it is now, lived here until my mom was going to New York to do the

whiz. Wow. And then was in New York. Let's make sure the listener knows who mommy was. Barbara Streisand. Wow. Interesting. Diana Ross. Right now, Shawn's sister is like, fucking what? What? Barbara Streisand. Barbara Streisand's daughter is crazy. My mom is Diana Ross. My dad is Bob Ellis Silverstein. Yeah. And was in New York, went to school there until seventh grade, then moved to Paris, because my mom was supposed to do a movie there. She also met her husband, that anyway, whatever, and lived in Paris and went to the American school in Paris for a little while, and then moved to

Switzerland and went to La Rosée and then moved back to the state. And then I, well, you're a Canadian, yeah? Yeah, but I don't speak, okay. Yes. Okay. You speak French. You speak fluent French. Well, I don't know about that. Anyway, sorry, I interrupted you. By the way, it should be pointed out that Tracy, when she goes, and then my mom, just whatever, her whatever's are more interesting than the bulk of my stories. But that's my kind of question is like, because in Chicago, I didn't grow up around, like, you know, in this town, which you're surrounded by fame and all that stuff.

So, so I, you know, I didn't have a sense of other. Well, our senses of other is different, right? It's for opposite reasons. So what was that like as a kid? I wonder. Well, it's all you know. So it's all I knew. The nice thing was that when I went to school, first of all, my mom is a mom before anything else. So she's, I didn't have the sort of fantasy life of what people imagine it would be or what you see in reality shows, for example. That is not, that was not my childhood. Right. And yes, I had incredible opportunity to go to school in Switzerland. I went to the best schools and, you know, Marvin Gaye called our home and all, and Andy Warhol painted me and all these things that are very extraordinary.

I'm looking at, you know, so those things are extraordinary, but because my mom was such a mom, he's in your face right now is amazing. I just think it's so great. So because of all that, but there was a sense of normalcy to my life. And I didn't know there was something different. And then when I went to Dalton in New York, in New York, yeah, the other kids that I was going to school with were Ralph Lauren's kids, Robert Redford's kids. So that was taken off the table for us. So it wasn't a thing. Right. And only as I've gotten, you know, as I became an adult and realized the magnitude of the fact that my mother's an international treasure, as they say, you know, just a goddess of. Well, I mean, you joke about it, but she's an icon.

I'm not joking. No, you're not, but you have to couch it in that. But I have to say, you've achieved the impossible and you're, you're an icon. Like to me, you like, like, you know, the best example I can think of when you watch Janet Jackson, I don't think of Michael Jackson. When you watch Michael Jackson, I don't think of Janet Jackson. When you watch Diana Ross, I think of her, I think of Trace Dallas Ross as two completely different people. And you're surprised to know that, oh, Diana Ross, oh, that's the Ross. Wow. Yeah, it's actually funny. And then when people, you know, I do look a lot like my mom. And then I also look a lot like my dad. But people are surprised and it's fun because they're like,

you didn't tell me. I'm like, why was I supposed to tell you that? Yeah. And we will be right back. SmartList is presented by Nerd Wallet. SmartList listeners, you like to listen to us, even though you understand we are not smart, talented, handsome, sure. But smart is not one of our strong suits. That's where our sponsor comes in. Nerd Wallet, where you can compare top financial products side by side and make smart financial decisions. Nerd Wallet has a whole team of nerds who help you make smart decisions on your next credit card, high yield savings account, and more. And these aren't people who just say they're smart. They're like actual smart. They've got CFPs, MBAs, years of experience, and they're using their expertise to offer side by side

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and Macy's has everything you need to take you all the way to the end zone. Do you guys get that? They've got all your football fan needs covered with team jerseys, serveware, plus food and snacks that'll keep you cheering. You know what I really love to refresh my serving platter, sitch. I'm getting this thing called the seller. It's like a chip and dip thing. It's called the seller. And I'm getting that. I'm going to dip all my chips and dip in that. And then I'm also getting a new pair of tongs because doesn't everybody need a new pair of tongs because they're a little spring broke on our tongs, a little spring in the middle. They shouldn't like not have those anymore. And when Macy sends it to me, I'm going to say,

tong you very much Macy's. Check it out now at Macy's.com. Again, that's Macy's.com. SmartList is supported by State Farm. There are some great things about being an adult, right? Like you can have ice cream for dinner or the whole week if you really want to. Like I do kind of sometimes not really, but sure I do. Two different colored socks. Why? Go ahead. It's your life. But then there's the other side of it. You know, like adulting and the actual responsibilities that come with it. Working, paying bills, buying a home, the big stuff. There's no instruction manual, you know what I mean for any of it. So figuring it out on your own can get stressful. With State Farm, you can scratch insurance off that list. So when you ask yourself,

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story once, but it was a while ago that you grew up in a family of five kids or five people. My mom has five kids, but we were three girls with my mom. And then 15 and 16 years later, my brothers were born. And tell me about getting the Wiggles out or something. Oh, yeah. It's Rhonda Tracy, Chedney Ross and Evan just to get through the siblings. And my mom is one of six. So it's a big family, like even just the immediate family is like 22. Everybody, all my siblings have husbands or wives and multiple children. I'm the like lone single lady who, you know, just gets to come and go. What do you think is wrong with you? Sorry. Jesus. Fuck. Sorry. Sometimes there is. Did you, there's a long list. I'm so sorry that

I just said it like that. What you meant was, what you meant was, what I meant was, how's it going? So far, so good. I mean, I just turned 50 and I think I just started working some of this shit out. Oh, believe me. I'm 52 and I am fucking, I am not even close to halfway working out. At 12 years old, I said to my mom, I think I need a therapist. At 12. I wish I'd known. I wish I'd known there was such thing as therapy at that age. I don't know how I knew. Well, you grew up, you grew up in LA, New York. I think that that's kind of stuff. I didn't have sushi until I was 22. Yeah. I love it. That's the marker. I didn't have, I didn't know what to do. I couldn't even think of a fish. Yeah. Nigiri. Okay. Wait. You asked about the Wiggles. Wiggles. Yeah. I was a very

hyperchild and very silly. And I also really loved, it was, my sister, Rhonda is very cerebral and I'm very physical. And so it was really frustrating for my sister, which I thought was very funny. And so I was just very energetic and I always, you know, and so my grandmother said it was the 12-year-old Wiggles, the eight-year-old Wiggles, the nine-year-old Wiggles. It just kept going and never stopped. And so my mother, in order to keep the peace at dinner, would say, would you like to go outside and get your Wiggles out? And I would say, yes, I would. And so I would go outside the glass sliding door. Like a dog has zoomies. And I would bounce around out there, like trying to get my sister to laugh, like trying to do stuff. And then I would come back in and

it would make me even more hyper. And my mom would say, and are they out? And I would be like, I don't know. And then, nope, I think there's a few more. And I would come back out and do it again and come back. Like a doggy has like a doggy has zoomies. God bless my siblings. It was actually funny. There was a period when one of my brothers was going through a phase and I was like, Rhonda, I'm just so worried. And she goes worried about what I'm like, how he's going to turn out. And she goes, what? I said, well, I mean, you know, like with all this going on. And she goes, what's up? You figured it out. And you were 10 times worse. Really? She was like, yeah, nightmare. Oh my God. Was there, do you remember the moment, if there was a moment where you

wanted to pursue something in the public? And then you thought, well, am I going to be able to live up to what I'm, I always worry about that with children. Yes. You want to drop the hammer on her? Yeah, go ahead, Tracy. Well, what was yours? Well, my question is minor letter, minor more like growing up in LA. Did you ever, while you were driving running, did you ever see like a school bus with kids giving each other massages? Go back. That was me. Wait, can I tell you, I want to get to your question, but can I tell you, because I feel like I told you this like waiting for our cars at an award show. But I'm going to tell you again, while other people get here, because it's so good. So Silver Spoons. Yes, huge fan. Okay, very big, very, very big

during my age group. And, you know, everybody loved Ricky. They loved Ricky Schroeder. I was like, no, I'm the Jason girl. You were the one that was teen beat, like that I would pull out and put on my wall. And then had to flip through a few pages before you got to me. I found it. And so, no. And then now, for some reason, whenever I'm asked like childhood crush, I can never get it right. And I say Justin, because I combine you with your sister. Yeah, because she never get that, Jay. Jay, you ever get that? You ever get that? Three times a week. Do you get that all the time? Really? Oh, I thought that was unique. No, no, I get Justin all. I will say he's really good about it. I've been with him many times with people and they'll go like, isn't that right,

Justin? You'll go, yep. Yeah. Oh my God, you don't even, he doesn't even flip you anymore. It doesn't. It's exhausting. But yes, you were, all these other people were so dumb. I mean, look, oh, that wasn't nice. I'd have those same, I'd have those same teen beat magazines looking at Jason too. Yeah. Yeah. That makes you feel awkward. You were like a teen, like a teen heart throb. Hey, Sean, hey, Sean, why don't you, Sean, why don't you walk us through that? Unbelievable. Unbelievable. Well, beautiful. Unbelievable. I know. I'm sorry. I'm terrible today. I want to get back to your question though. What's wrong with you? Yeah. So, I mean, good for you that you didn't, that you didn't

like, let that be a barrier and like, no, screw it. I don't want to, I don't want to have it fail or not be able to live up to her, you know. That still haunts me. There's a misconception that you could have been anything you wanted just because where you came from, but that's not how it's helped to you. Well, a couple of things, like if you think back to when we were younger, are we all in the same age range? Yes. Yes. Yes. The youngest. No, I'm 52. Okay. You are the youngest actually. Yeah. Of us three. Well, of us, of the three of us, but. But Will, you play the youngest, don't you? What's the oldest you can play, Will? What do you think the oldest is? I could stretch to 44 probably. Yeah. True. Yeah. You know what I mean? When you do that, I would say I would

give it a 16. Would my eyes get like this? Yes, you would. We call that smoke in the room. We call that smoke in the room, smoke in the trees. Tighten things up there. Yeah. Is that like a guy thing? No, we'd go along red carpets and we'd see other actors doing, we'd be like, oh, look, it's real smoky over there. Some guy be getting his phone. Hey, what's going on? I've had to learn how to not be an overpeaker on the carpet. Yeah, where you look over your shoulder. If you can see your tonsils, it's like a problem. Like, I'm like, oh my gosh. A big open mouth. Yeah, like turn it down to a two. Like I'm on like 11 on a carpet. Yeah, me too. You know, when I was growing up, when we were younger, being a child of was not what it is now. And a lot of people would change

their parents last name. And I think from a really young age, I was very aware of the fact that people were paying attention to me because I was an extension of someone they loved, as opposed to because of me. And because of that, I felt very compelled to figure out who I was, what I wanted, who I wanted to be. And that was my driving force. It was, you know, I mean, like growing, not challenging, that's the wrong word, but people, I used to have the metaphor that people would unlock the door and then sit on the other side, like how's she going to walk through, as opposed to being excited or like, Oh, this is so intriguing. But no, I mean, like, like everybody in this business, I, and especially at that time, I really had to like fight my way

through and and make a lot of failures. And yeah, you turned it into a positive. It sounds like where you knew that the bar was going to be higher than it's going to be more scrutiny. And so you really, yeah, it's arguably harder to do because you have so many more preconceived notions. But get it coming into the room as opposed to some other performer who comes in and does, has, there's no, yeah, there's nothing. Blank slate. Yeah. You know, I think the singing, like I actually wanted to be a singer. That was what I wanted to do. But guess what? Love myself. I love that song. You did it. You're a singer. So I, at 40 something, how old was I? I don't know. I did a movie where I sang. And let me tell you

that like the internal journey on that was real challenging. I'm facing that monster for myself. And I remember seeing God bless her. Lisa Marie, when Lisa Marie Presley, when she had come out with her first album and they obliterated her, they obliterated her. And I was like 16 years old at the time, I think. And I was like, Oh, that's not a good choice. Like, that's a hard path. And then yeah, I did the high note and I recorded songs and I made it through that terrible sort of internal monster of I'm never going to be my mom. And I realized I'm never going to be my mom. I'm never supposed to be my mom. You're never supposed to be your mom. And you killed it. And you killed it. It's so good. I love that song. I always used to say to

myself, yeah, I mean, you're a failure. Like you will never actually enter the Super Bowl in a halftime show in a helicopter. Like, babe, it's all, it's all going to be garbage. But you don't need to. But wait, what about, but didn't you have an embarrassing moment in high school or something where you sang? Yeah, I sang an acapella song and I started on the wrong key and my voice cracked. And I panicked and like froze. And then I tried again and messed it up again. And the entire audience started going, You can do it. You can do it. And my best friend at the time like came on stage and hugged me and I did it again. And then I was like, that's it. We're good. We've handled that little singing desire. I had, I talked about, I think I talked about it before. I had

it's the same kind of thing when I was doing a show called promises, promises, promises, promises. Yeah, promises. I'm Broadway, where I had a pressure. I didn't, I didn't do the pressure. You're asleep on the mic. Good night, Oscar. What was my cue? I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Open April 24th. The, um, the, uh, which theater? Which theater? Alaska. Alaska. Oh my God. I didn't even remember. I know, I know more than you. By the way, so I was seeing the pressure, the pressure of singing in front of all these people, a solo song is, is a lot. Like when everybody's looking at you to sing great. And then you have like the X factor, an American Idol and you know, the voice and all these singing competition shows

where people judge you for singing. And so all that pressure was, and it made me not be able to sing. And I was like, I got to quit. I quit. I got to get fired. Please fire me. I can't do this anymore. And then I went to therapy and I got over it and then I sang fine. But I know what you mean about like cracking or anything. It really is like traumatizing. There's nowhere to hide. Yeah, there's nowhere to hide. I will tell you now, like, there's nothing I like better. During filming of that movie, I was like, get me on a stage with a mic and just an audience, just get out there and listen to me. And if I'm not singing, I'm going to be talking. Listen, let me change my clothes so you can see another outfit. Look up. Does it sit there? Don't go to

the bathroom. I got more. It's like, I love this character. I love this character. I'm like, hold on a second. I got more to say. Nope. I didn't ask you a question. I'm answering myself. Thank you so much. Like I just want to like get in there and just keep going. Remember star search? Are we all old enough to remember stars? Do you remember Sam Smith? Sam Smith. Yes. Sam Smith. He was on search. Do you remember he was the one, not Sam Smith. Not Sam Smith. Sam. Oh God. He sang the Star Spangled Banner over the rainbow and Sam Harris. Sam Harris. Yeah, he was amazing. You do remember him. If I showed you him right now and he was like, Oh God, he's amazing. He was amazing. And this was Ed McMahon was the host, right? All by himself. He didn't have a co-host

with him. Did he? No. No. I remember that. Star search. That was like the first American Idol or something. Rosy O'Donnell was on search. Yeah. I was going to say it launched a bunch of people, I think. Yeah. Remember that? I should bring that back. Anyway. If you're at home, just google it right now. Go ahead. We'll take a second. Take a look. You can see we catch up what we're talking about. There you see Ed. You know, I was just talking about the other day. We are also the generation that remembers Ovaltine Tang. Yes. Tang. I'm trying to think of some of the other things I was trying to think of. All I drank was Tang. Tang. It was just water. Same here, college dude. I was just knee deep in Tang. Crushing it. The drink. What is your problem,

dude? I can't have a conversation without being, you know what? You don't need to say poo. You don't need to say the other part. No, because I just got it. All right. So listen. Oh man. So wait. Tracy. Sorry, Tracy. First of all, that's my sister's name and I love her and I love you. All right. So listen. You're sister Tracy. I didn't know that. Yeah. Yeah. I'm a big fan of the podcast. So listen, I heard you on, so I heard you on Glenn and Duel. I listened to the podcast. I just ignore it. No, I get it. Believe me. I get it. I heard you on Glenn and Duel's podcast and you were fantastic. Thank you. I love them. I get it because you always talk about, we talk about this too, about how you love being home and you wished you wanted to go out more

when people invited you to cool places, but you don't often like to go out. It's like the weird tangle between wanting to be invited and also like not. Right. But I love this quote of yours, which is so great. You said, I'm an introvert who plays an extrovert in life. Yeah. I think that's true. Yeah. I think that's a lot of people. I'm the same. I would love to not go out every time it's time to go out. You don't play an extrovert. I don't even try. You don't do anything. You're an introvert who acts like an introvert. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean, because Amanda, I got Amanda right there. It was just like the greatest extrovert. So I can just lay back, let her do all the talking and socializing. You're going to build in bad guys, what you got.

Don't worry about this. Yeah. You can travel with your bad cop. A little bit. Tracy, how are you single? I mean, it's kind of, you know what? Let's get back. No, let's get back to Will's question, because I'm broken. No, no, no. What guy wouldn't go nuts? You know what my theory is, Sean, I feel like I'm a unicorn. And so it's hard to find another one. Yeah. But I, it's not to say that I have had a boring life. You know what? The one thing that's true about all unicorns, what they're really horny. Hey guys. I can't believe we're left. I just snorted. That was the worst joke. It's one of the worst jokes. By the way, also, there's only one unicorn. That's the whole purpose of a unicorn. No, there's a village of unicorns. Will, we'll be right back.

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I'd love to bet on that. Wouldn't that be kind of cool? The FanDuel sports book app is safe, secure and super easy to use. Best of all, you can get paid your winnings instantly. So join FanDuel today with promo code smartList to claim your no sweat first bet on Super Bowl 57. That's promo code smartList. Make every moment more with FanDuel, official sports book partner of the NFL. 21 plus exclusion supply. See show notes for full disclaimer. SmartList gets support from Visit Williamsburg. In Williamsburg, Virginia, there's never too much of a good thing because there's too many things to see, do, taste and experience. Whether you're a foodie, a golfer, a history buff, a shopaholic, an outdoor enthusiast, or a thrill seeker, you'll

find what you came for. Come to Williamsburg to live life at your pace. From roller coasters to water parks, hiking and kayaking, Williamsburg is great for adventures of all kinds. And with over a dozen four plus star courses, it's become one of the East's premier golf destinations. Southern Comfort is just a taste of what their emerging food and beverage scene has to offer. From contemporary cuisine to the classics, fine dining to food on the go, and local craft breweries to a stunning winery, Williamsburg will satiate any appetite. Explore the grounds of America's first English settlement in Jamestown, or shop along the quaint streets of historic Williamsburg and Yorktown. Dig into the forensics of our country's earliest settlers, or experience a day in the life of one.

This just isn't a place to learn about our shared history. It's a place to live it. Williamsburg is the type of destination that you can come back to again and again and have a completely different experience. Go to visitwilliamsburg.com to start planning your trip today. And now back to the show. Let's talk about this first segue. I want to talk about your career and how great you are and how amazing Blackish was and that it's off the air now. And do you wish it was still on the air? Did it end at the right time? Did you, you know, and by the way, I remember hearing some story about how you used to make yourself cry as a kid and something like that. I did. To become a better actress or something like that. Well, yeah, my favorite thing to do is

like I would get upset about something and cry and then I'd just lay down and I would notice the tears were just puddling on the floor and then I would move myself as quickly as I could towards a mirror to just see what it looked like. Oh, look at that. Is that good? I don't know. It just sort of really trying to just see. Do you have a cry trick? Do you have a certain thing that you think about that can bring the tears? I just think of the most awful thing that like my worst nightmare of what could happen, somebody being gone. Yeah, I do the same thing. It's terrible. It's so bad to do to yourself. It's so bad for your soul. Like it is just terrible. I remember on Blackish we had a scene where that's that season when Dre and I were getting a divorce and then it all ends with like

Bo's father dying. And I have to say Bo's father dying because I kept, we did this scene. I was supposed to be a mess crying hysterically. And then we're on a comedy. So then they were like, right, let's get to the next scene. And I was like, I'm still like that dad died. I'm like still like the wound is still open inside my soul. I haven't stopped rolling yet. I'm still bleeding inside. But it's like impossible. Like how do you, you know, I'm still rolling. No one said cut in there. You're still crying on the way home. Yeah. Still no one said cut. It's ridiculous. What did you ask? You asked if I think, you know, I did eight years on Girlfriends and eight years on Blackish. I know. What a career. I mean, that's crazy. Two big shows. It's crazy. And I think it

was perfect timing for it to be done. The beauty of Blackish ending was we knew it was ending. So I was able to walk into the last year, the last season, so present to sort of all of it. And to actually get the ritual of saying goodbye and having it be over. Whereas on Girlfriends, we didn't know we ended the last episode that we shot of Girlfriends. I directed and it was during the writer's strike. So we had no writers on set. And then we just disappeared. There was no wrap party. There was no nothing after eight years. So this was really special to be able to sort of finish this way. And that's like whenever I have a gathering at my house, people just leave. And you don't even know. Wait, where did everybody go? They were like, we didn't like the door.

It's like dad's screeching tires. That's dad leaving. Wait, we didn't have a wrap party dad. But wait, wait. She said it's that's 16 years. I know. That's crazy, right? That is amazing. Television of episode television. I mean, that's so long. Hey, that's an incredible run. Hold on. I'm a black actress. Now, please continue. Okay, fair enough. I've done well, but let's compare. Yeah, yeah. For sure. For sure. Let's compare. Fuck it. Now, is it true that you when mom used to drive out of that driveway and she was away trying the, trying her dresses and her outfits and that's where fashion comes from? Because, you know, I do, I try to put it on. You put it on. I would take it. No, no, no,

it was even worse. I would literally, she would be pulling out of the driveway. I would go look, okay, she's pulling out great. And I would go into her bathroom into the closet and I would start taking everything I wanted, throwing it over my arm to move it into my closet for the time she was gone. So it's like I would open my closet as if these things were mine. And one time she came back, she had forgotten something. She was like, what are you doing? I was like, I am going to surprise you by organizing your closet. No way. No way. Did you really? That's amazing. I was like, I know, but go, I didn't get out of here. What did you forget? Did we get it for you? Stop it. That's hysterical. Wait, so, and is that,

is that where, is your mom the inspiration for, for loving fashion or? I don't know. Because I follow you like a crazy person on Instagram and all of your like gorgeous, you always look so gorgeous in all the stuff you wear. I will always shop and there will always be dirty dishes in my same combination of both. Two things that are just true about me. But I stacked the dishes nicely because I'm extremely organized. Fashion was an armor for me. And looking back, I've actually realized it was one of the ways that I sort of protected myself from the world and fought microaggressions and racism. In the world that I lived in, I would navigate myself and my external appearance in a way that gave somebody an impression,

that and my articulateness. And I would sort of dive in in a way that like, you cannot belittle me. Not only my clothes telling you that, but, and also around men and whatever, like I just was able to sort of close myself in a way that told the world what I wanted them to know about me. And now it's a creative expression. What age do you think that, so that's such an interesting, what age do you think that you started, A, doing that, doing that, especially sort of against the microaggressions and B, did you become actually cognizant of the fact that you, that's what you were doing? I wasn't cognizant of that until now. Oh, wow. Because I started to think back, I can't remember who I was talking to and I was like, wait a minute, that's fascinating.

Because as I said, I've always loved clothes and so I was always a shopper. Like, but I, a lot of it was, there's a way you're not going to talk to me because I'm presenting myself in a particular manner. And I think that is a part of it. You know, as black people in this country, there is an idea of who we are, black and brown people. And so there's an external presentation that is expected that goes into, you know, respectability politics and all of these different things. There's a, you know, a way to sort of play into that. And I used clothing as one of those weapons for myself. I don't think I realized it, but it was from young, because I also, a person who was very independent from a young age, and I always looked older

than I was. I had to prove to people that I was younger, you know, and didn't have an ID or something. And some of it was my sort of stature and I've always been very, like I've always looked older for my age and sort of very articulate and clear in my communication. And so I don't know. But now it's just a way I spend my money. If you do, if this character doesn't hit the road, I'm gonna fuck it. There's a couple of characters that are behind me. You can't see them, but there's Madami Ver, who's the alcoholic acting coach. Related to bone at all. Yeah, I was just gonna say, Boney Ver. No, dare you fuckers. She's your idea, sweetheart. You're such a dear. I love the way you smile. It's wonderful. Yes. Madami Ver, she's all eyebrows. There's a picture behind me.

Apparently, I've done this my whole life and my mom one day, I was on the phone with my mom. She started talking in this weird voice. I was like, Mom, what are you doing? She was like, I'm just doing what you're doing. And I was like, I don't know what you're doing. I'm not sure. She's like, you always do this when you're telling stories. You just go into different voices. And I was like, do I? And yeah, so I apparently do this all the time. I love it. Let me ask you something about fashion. How do you know what is happening right now? Like, is there an agreed upon magazine that like, oh, if you see pictures of, let's say, how would you know that overalls are back? If it's in Vogue or if it's at the store?

Asking for a friend. Here's the thing, though. So there's a difference between style and fashion, in my opinion. Thank you, amen. It's like a difference between spirituality and religion. Style is how you do things. It's sort of the, and fashion is the sort of what everybody is saying is in or out. Oh my God, Will, what are you about to say? Sorry, I'm just agreeing with you and I'm listening to you tell these two heathens. Keep going, Tracy. We're on the same page. Go ahead. And so for me, I really don't follow what's in and out. There are things that will tell you what the trends are and you'll start to see, but it's just like with anything. There's a zeitgeist and like certain things come in at the same time. And then there's somebody,

there's, you know, an Anna Wintour, whomever, Edward Anifle, who will tell you like this year, the trend is overalls, pink lips and black nails. You know what I mean? But for me, I think that I should wear my clothes and they shouldn't wear me. So I follow what makes my heart sing. And the truth is I've been, the things that I wear have been, my body's been the same, the shape of my body's been the same slightly changed, but I still wear the same shapes, high waisted pants, wide leg trousers. I do love it overall. I love a big chunky shoe always have. You know, it's like those things are the same for me. The girls have so much more options. And the guys is like a suit. Not anymore. Not anymore. You can wear whatever you want.

But like that's, I always, I always feel guilty when Amanda is like, you know, Sorry, I just heard my name. I was asleep for a second. I think guys have it so easy. Like you go to some like black tie event. Well, it's just a tuxedo. Great. I'm done in 10 minutes. But have you guys looked though, if you like notice now, like men are leaning into all these different spaces and wear skirts and I mean, didn't Brad pitch us wear a skirt for his press junket or something? I, you can wear whatever you want. Jason, I would love to see you in a skirt or some sparkles. Sure. Wait, didn't you run into Brad at the Oscars or something? And you were like totally

I, I, I ran into Brad. Brad did not see me when I saw him and he made eye contact. That's it. That's it. I love that. That is a good looking dude. It's like weird. Who's the other one? There was someone else recently and I was just like, what is wrong with that face? Why does it look like that? It's so pretty. Obviously it wasn't any one of us. Keanu Reeves. You know what? Yeah, no, it's okay. Well, we'll just. What was that, Sean? Hold on a second. Did you say Keanu Reeves? But is that pretty high on your list, Sean?

Keanu, no. I think I love Keanu. I'm a huge fan of good looking guys, not my type. I, I mostly have dated black men. I date, I'm, but as a young in, it went from, it went like this. Jason. Yep. Yep. Then I think it was Keanu. Okay. Really? And never been, I've never been like a Brad Pitt fan. Like, like, like he was not like a crush from movies, but when you see him in person, it's like weird startling. Like you're just like, oh my God, what is happening with that face? Yeah. He's got, he's got, he's got tons of Riz.

He's really extraordinary. What's Riz? Riz. Is that what the kids are saying? I'm not explaining it to you guys. You guys don't know about Riz. You have to, because I'm a guest and I don't know. Riz is like what all the kids, like my kids say, they all talk about, talk about like a guy who's got like game or like charisma. That's amazing. I'm totally stealing that. Yeah. My kids hate it because I use it all the time and that they're really embarrassed, by the way, that I use them.

Why don't you switch it to Ma? You guys got a lot of Ma. I actually kind of like that too. You know, but the charisma, you know, the thing is as you, as you, you know, you realize like that has nothing to do with sex appeal. Like the physical, this is not special to that. No, wait, wait. So, sorry, we, so keep going. So you went, it was Jason and Keanu, that it was never really Brad, although we all agree that Brad Pitt is incredible. Like objectively, it's like objectively, that's just like a, okay, nobody's going to dispute that. Yeah. Any great guy.

Keep going. Now you talk about Riz. You got a lot of Riz and I didn't know Tracy. And I didn't know, I was like, why doesn't she have her own podcast? And now you do. And it's called I am America. It is very different from a Riz podcast though. Wait, what, tell me, when did it start and how is it? It's not, it's not a Ma podcast. It's not a thing.

Now we're going to make it a thing. Just pick a different syllable, bro. I'm embarrassed in the way that my kids are. I can't wait to see those boys again. Jason's about to dab for fuck's sake. Did I do it right? No, you did not. I don't even know. That looked like something from cheer camp.

Hi, ready? Okay. Yes. I have a podcast that is January 31st that I'm very excited about. It's called I am America. And we meet people who are redefining their own identity and the idea of community. And what I think is the possibility of our country. And the thing that's so exciting to me is it's a version of, it's the best of our country and a version that I just don't hear enough of around people that are looking to belong and end up creating a sense of belonging for so many others.

And so they tell their own stories. It's some people you might know, some you don't know at all. Deanna Van Buren, who is one of very few black female architects. A man by the name of Tony Hillary, who started Harlem Grown in New York. And his beautiful story and realizing that it takes a lot to grow children. And it's not what you expect. Keir Gaines, who's a therapist, a black male therapist and really works with people. And so I then sort of create context and so much of what happens

for the black and brown stories in this country is they're decontextualized. And we don't get to really hear the context and the fertility, the sort of depth of their stories. And so I do the intro and the outro and I sort of frame and give context to their stories. And I'm just very excited about it. Every time I listen and the editing process, I just a bit, I move to tears and how beautiful these stories and these people are. So it's been really fun for me. I love that. That's great. I can't wait to hear that.

Yeah. Yeah. It's you say we's that you by yourself or just you and your team of me and my team. We put together a really beautiful team that honestly is just as beautiful of a tapestry as the people we're interviewing. Just amazing people doing our sound design and and our producer Nicole Hill. It's really been a really fulfilling process for me. That's great. So great. I love it. I can't wait to hear it.

Well, you know, we've taken up too much of your time. I love people with two names. I love people with three names, even more Tracy Ellis Ross. You're amazing. Thank you for being here. This has been so much fun. I am a huge fan. You know how much I love you so much.

God, you're so funny. You're so hilarious. Yeah. God, you are. You are. You are. It's so great to meet you and to talk to you. And you've got a ton of Riz.

I'm just going to leave you with that last little bit of ma. Thank you. I know you're busy with all the stuff, the products you got going on and the lines and the things. Yeah. Pattern beauty. It's been really fun. It's a really fun thing getting to this point in one's career where you actually can start creating things

and not just waiting for the next job. Yeah. It's really exciting. Not everybody gets to get here. So it's fun. Yeah. Well, you worked your buns off. So kudos to you. Congratulations. No, no, I still have really, really nice buns.

Thank you. Yeah. Sweet buns. Hot buns. Sweet buns. Yeah. That's what I was going to say. Thank you, buns.

Okay. Amazing. All right, honey. Bye. Thanks, Tracy. Thank you so much. Hope to see you soon. Bye, sweetie. How great is she? Jason, have you ever met her?

I have. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Super duper nice. Tracy. Well, what about you? Had you met her before? I've never met her before.

Isn't she unbelievably funny? She's so cool. She truly does have charisma. Oh, my God. Yeah. Off the charts. I think she could talk about like in, I know Dana Carvey was on a recent show.

It's like she could do like sketch, like it'd be a super huge sketch comedy person. Oh, my God. She is not slow. Yeah. She's so fucking witty and. She's so witty and so funny. And the energy.

And you know what? Like a lot of people, there's this equation, I think, like that suits certain, you know, names and celebrities or whatever. That if your name equals joy, I think you got something. And I think her name, I think just, she just equals joy.

I think she's so joyful. And you're saying when you hear her name, when you hear her name, you think joy. Yeah. For sure. Don't you? What do you think people think of when they hear your name?

My name just, I got to take a potty break or something. Yeah. Oh, Sean. Hey, Sean, I got a shit. No, people, it's also good. Not too much stomach. It's a good feeling. Also, Sean is another person just like Tracy Ellis-Roster.

You're like, that person brings good positive energy and I think laughter and it's fun and good. Seriously, they do. That's how I feel when I think of you. Oh, well, that's very nice. Yeah. There's no butt coming here, huh? I know.

I thought I was waiting for a big butt. But we didn't get a chance to talk about, that's very sweet, Will. I love you guys very much. I love you very much. So, but we didn't get a chance to talk about all of her, you know, products and all the products of the products, which are called.

Oh, you're talking about the, bye, products. Bye. Why do you have to make it sound like someone's getting stuck in a vice? I do, or Will. Bye, hey, hey, hey, bye. Bye. Smart, less.

Smart, less. SmartLess is 100% organic and artisanally handcrafted by Michael Grant Terry, Rob Armjalf, and Bennett Barberco. Smart, less. Our next episode will be out in a week, wherever you listen to podcasts, or you can listen to it right now, early on Amazon Music, or early and add free by subscribing to Wondery Plus

in Apple Podcasts or the Wondery app. Life is short, and it's full of a lot of interesting questions. What does happiness really mean? How do I get the most out of my time here on earth? And what really is the best cereal? These are the questions I seek to resolve on my weekly podcast, Life is Short with Justin Long. If you're looking for the answer to deep philosophical questions

like what is the meaning of life, I can't really help you. But I do believe that we really enrich our experience here by learning from others, and that's why in each episode, I like to talk with actors, musicians, artists, scientists, and many more types of people about how they get the most out of life. We explore how they felt during the highs, and sometimes more importantly, the lows of their careers.

We discuss how they've been able to stay happy during some of the harder times. But if I'm being honest, it's mostly just fun chats between friends about the important stuff. Like if you had a sandwich named after you, what would be on it? Follow Life is Short wherever you get your podcasts. You can also listen ad-free on the Amazon Music or Wondery app.