During my Disney/ ABCTV L.A. Trip, I had the chance to visit the black-ish set and interview both Kenya Barris, the show’s creator and Executive Producer and the kids cast including Yara Shahidi (Zoey Johnson), Marcus Scribner (Andre Johnson, Jr.), Miles Brown (Jack Johnson), and Marsai Martin (Diane Johnson).

Note: Thanks to Disney and ABC TV, who invited me on this all expense paid trip to Los Angeles for the Big Hero 6 Event and ABC TV Event. While I will share about the different events and activities during this trip, any personal views expressed are always 100% my own.

The show other black-ish" stars Anthony Anderson as Andre "Dre" Johnson and Tracee Ellis Ross as Rainbow Johnson, weren't available for the interview since they were shooting on set.


Have you started watching black-ish? It's one of the new shows that premiered this Fall on ABC TV. I've caught a few episodes and really like the family connection and the humor is off the chart. Also the episode themes touch on everyday issues all families have or will experience, so it's really relatable no matter what race your family is.


I wanted to know how close the kids real personalities are to the characters they play. So I asked them

Onica (MommyFactor): Each of your characters have a unique personality. Zoey is into technology, Andre Jr is very sporty and interested in other cultures, Marsai is really smart and knows alot of trivia, How close is that to your real personalities?

YARA: I have to say I'm not close to Zoey character wise because I'm the kind of person always reading and such. For example I spent my summer in Oxford taking two history classes. And I have to be reminded to post something. I usually forget my phone. Fashion wise, maybe not the same fashion but I am into fashion.

MARCUS: I play lacrosse. I love playing lacrosse and I've been playing since I was 2nd grade. But I also play basketball. So I'm pretty close to Andre Jr. I feel like most of the conversations that have happened in the show have happen to me in real life. So it's just a blast working as Andre Jr.

MILES: I am mostly close to my character as myself in real life. As they said basketball, sports and those things, I'm also interested in acting and those things. So I'm also interested in what happens in my character life also.

MARSAI: For me I'm pretty social media type. I'm pretty perky, but I dont have siblings. This is my first experience of having siblings. So it's kind of new to me. I like computers very much. I'm kinda sporty since I've done gymnastics.

The group cast also answered other questions from the group including

Group Q: What is like being on set.

YARA: It's absolutely amazing. I'm learning so much from being on set with such acting veterans. But it doesn't even feel like work and that's the amazing part. It just feels like another enjoyable experience.

MARCUS: Working on set with all the veteran actors is just an amazing experience. It's awesome just to come to work and learn something new from them. Lets be honest, They're all comedic geniuses.

MARSAI: They're are like our mentors in acting now because everyday. We actually feel like we're a real family. We bond as a family. Together were like unstoppable.

The kids cast was soon joined by Kenya Barris, the show’s creator who talked about his family and his view of the show. I knew that Kenya based the shows family on his real life family. So I had to ask him how they felt about that. He shared that they were good nature about it. But while they might inspire some story ideas it wasn't always exactly based on them.

But one thing that is based on his family is the multi culture elements. Since my family is also multi culture I also asked Kenya to share this thoughts on this.

He shared that his wife is a biracial woman and he also has a multi culture background. He feels kids and families these days are no longer just "black" or white" etc. Many now have been exposed to all cultures and races. While the show is titled black-ish, its not just for "black" families. The issues and subjects the families deal with is something all families can understand.

Indeed. Family issues of discipline, fitting in and dealing with sibling doesn't have a race or color. I hope you'll tune in to black-ish on Wednesday nights from 8:30pm CST/9:30p.m. EST on the ABC Television Network.

To learn more about the show, visit - www.abc.go.com/shows/blackish
On Facebook - www.facebook.com/BlackishABC
On Twitter - www.twitter.com/Black_ishABC