Tracee Ellis Ross's Pop Star Portrayal in 'The High Note' is a Role She Waited Years to Play
Tracee Ellis Ross was born to entertain.
Though she's a bona fide and beloved icon in her own right—evident in her extremely amusing social media posts and infectious sense of humor—her carefully selected roles throughout the years have served as some of the sole visible examples of who a modern-day Black woman can truly be. Whether it's the successful lawyer Joan Clayton on Girlfriends or Dr. Rainbow Johnson on Black-ish, her characters always share a common thread of being confident, successful, and self-aware women unashamed of the personal empires they've built for themselves. That theme of personal independence rings true again in Ross's latest role as Grace Davis in The High Note. She plays an internationally adored pop star who fights for her worth within a music industry notorious for displacing female artists once they hit the age of 40.
Regardless of the social status of Ross's characters, their core storylines resonate with women nonetheless. Grace Davis is no exception—without the designer dresses, the entourage, the fame, and the fortune, what's left is a woman still attempting to maintain agency over her artistic expression. Though she is ready to start a new chapter within her career, the men who manage her life are urging her to head to Vegas and wrap it up.
"[One] of the things that was so interesting to me about this part is [that] Grace Davis is sort of this larger-than-life woman that [allows us to see] her insecurities, her vulnerabilities, her fears, her heart. And that in and of itself, I thought, was really identifiable and special," Ross tells BAZAAR.com of her attraction to the role. "But this idea that she's at a place in her life where she wants to try something different, keep growing, and keep being, and people are telling her, 'No. No one's ever done that before. You're too old. That's not the way this works, and you should just play it safe.' And she stretches beyond that. I felt a personal connection to that, obviously, around the singing and trying something new, that it's never too late, no matter the age, the stage, the phase that you're at in your life, to go after what you want."
In the film, viewers hear Ross sing for the first time—not in the sarcastic or humorous manner she's done in television roles or under her handful of alter egos on social media—but rather purely as herself, in her tone, and in her raw and real register. For Ross, singing and performing onstage has been a dream she time and time again buried away due to feeling that she wasn't good enough to professionally pursue it. The pressure to be perfect in the musical sense is inarguably high after all, considering the actress's mother is the legendary Diana Ross. When Tracee came across the script for The High Note, however, much like her character, she decided it was finally time to take a chance.
"[Singing is] something I've always wanted to do. So I was waiting for a script for a movie that felt that special, and this felt that special. And I loved the story of this character and this movie, the message that it's never too late to go for your dreams, that anyone listening to or taking into account other people's opinion of staying in your lane is not worth it," Ross says. "The combination of those things just felt worth me fighting through my fear to try something I've always wanted to do."
Ross felt more nervous stepping into the pared-down intimacy of a recording studio than she was on stages and in front of crowds for scenes in the film.
"I had to have a little talk with myself. I was like, 'This is what you wanted. You're taking the leap. You've got to get out of your way,' and the truth is that the fear didn't last long," Ross recalls of the production process for the soundtrack. "It hung in there for a minute, and it makes you feel tight and sweaty—and then I started to realize that I felt really at home in the vocal booth. I certainly felt at home on the stage. I loved performing and singing live. Once I made it through the not knowing of what my voice sounded like and how afraid I felt in my own judgment of myself, it actually felt like flying."
Grappling with self-doubt is a universal experience for women, according to Ross, who admits she and her close circle of girlfriends have all confessed to each other when they're afraid to conquer a new challenge.
"I've had many experiences, like everybody, with my own self-doubt, thinking, 'Why try something new?' Or external voices or circumstances that are telling me that it's not worth it, it's not worth taking the risk," continues Ross. "I know I have so many friends who go through that when I get those phone calls, like, 'I'm too scared to do it,' or, 'What if it fails? What if it doesn't work?' And my feeling, and this movie's message, is it's always worth it. There's freedom on the other side, and it's always worth walking through your fear and towards what you want."
While Ross may relate to her character emotionally, sartorially, they had their fair share of differences, and that was a purposeful creative decision, says Ross.
"It always starts from the wardrobe. It's like the shoes up. How is your character touching the ground? Although I do not love wearing stiletto heels at all times, although I do not love wearing eyelashes because they're so uncomfortable, Grace Davis does! I wanted her to be different from Tracee, because she is," says Ross. "I wanted her to be bold, strong, not afraid to be the most powerful and most eye-catching person in a room at any given time. I wanted her stage persona to have a different identity than her office persona and her home persona."
"I really felt like Grace Davis was a woman who changed her nail polish color with her outfits, which we did," continues Ross. "I really felt like Grace Davis was a woman who wore eyelashes, which I don't, but she did. I felt like Grace's hair had to always feel iconic. And so even her stage hair was sort of rock and roll and long, and then her other hair was sort of, I don't know, I called it my '70s porn hair," the actress laughs.
Though Ross takes on the role of portraying an over-the-top pop diva of sorts, the story of Grace Davis in a way is still a similar narrative to that of a young Joan Clayton or the ambitious Rainbow Johnson. According to the actress, the commonalities between her signature characters isn't a coincidence.
"I have been very purposeful about the roles that speak to me, that allow me to continue to expand how we as Black women are seen, to represent different kinds of women. Yes, there is a thread," admits Ross. "I love sharing women that are purposeful and choice-ful, because most women I know are. Most women I know wake up every day trying to do the best they can. And so, even though Grace has her flaws, Bow has her flaws, Joan had her flaws, I like to share that sort of thread of humanity between all of them, where their vulnerability is present and their lives are filled with who they are."
Ross also views the film—which aside from starring actress Dakota Johnson, also has Nisha Ganatra and Flora Greeson as director and head screenwriter—as a chance to showcase the stories that can come to be with a diverse team and crew.
"I think, like our movie, [Hollywood needs] more inclusive casts and crews, and stories that are for women that are not revolving just around how men see them and what men want from them, and finding a relationship as if it's the only thing that will make you happy. Telling stories that are about our inner lives and our dreams and our choices, particularly for women of color, so that we get to see the full spectrum of who we are," declares Ross. "Along with having writers, directors, and department heads that are representative of the world that we live in, and particularly with the stories that are being told. As well as allowing, or making space for, and doing a better job with the pipeline that allows people to move into positions of power as the gatekeepers—both in studios and as executives and managers and agents in all of these places—so that all aspects of our lives and careers are shepherded by people that have different points of view."
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