Tracee Ellis Ross is known to have played in successful television shows like “Black-ish” and “Girlfriends”. But now, the public approaches Ross with Ross in his original successful series Roku, “Solo Traveling With Tracee Ellis Ross”. The series made its debut to glowing criticism last month and quickly became the most watched unicenized series in the history of Roku, winning a renewal of season 2.
Ross has always loved trips, but it took the actress nominated for the Emmy Emmy to realize that fans flock to her social media accounts to have an overview of her superb vacation. “I came back from my ordinary summer trip that I make with my friends every year,” she said Variety At Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival (MVAAFF), where the series screened a closed window crowds on Friday evening. “And the guy who helped me at the airport was like” girl, each year, we are waiting for your first drop and we are waiting for your Paris fashion “. He said, “I can’t wait to see what you wear. I said, “Are you serious?!” “”
After realizing that there was an audience intrigued by his trips, Ross took the idea and ran with it. “I called my manager and I said to myself:” Is there a world where we could make a travel show that had the impression that the volume was slightly revealed from my social networks? ” She says. No one understood only [at] First of all.'”
Once she obtained production to join the packaging segments, Ross was on a jet. The first season of “Solo Traveln”, which consists of three episodes, follows Ross (and its emblematic wardrobe) while it ventures in Morocco, Mexico and Spain. Like most series of travel, it presents locations worthy of pebbles, but what makes the spectacle unique is the vulnerability of the actor, its vision of the world distinct and how it manages the high and the emotional stockings that accompany to be alone in a new environment.
Solo journey has been part of Ross’s life for over 25 years; She made her first trip to her twenties. “I had finished this show and I had more money than ever, which is not much,” she recalls. “But I had money and I said to myself:” I want to go. ” My friends worked, and no one was available to accompany me. I had seen the pink sandstone pink station [in the Bahamas] In Condé Nast Traveler. I don’t remember being frightened or something like that. I felt safe and comfortable, and remember that it was a great experience. »»
This party has informed the way Ross is going to date. “I’m talking about the fact that there are all kinds of solo trips,” she explains. “Some people travel for adventures. Some people travel to meet people. Some people travel to escape their daily life. Some people go decompression, like me. Since then, I think I have at least one solo trip per year if not two. ”
Although Ross is an experienced traveler in real life, it took a little work to get the tone of the show. “It was a delicate balance,” said Ross. “Some of the first cups that came back, they filled them with music, and I said to myself:” No. He lost the intimacy of some of these quiet and lonely moments. Ross also notes that she travels with a skeleton team to film the series. “I made a conscious decision not to use a stylist or hair and makeup. I said to myself: “It’s not how I travel. So it should look like what I travel. It was important to me, ”she says. “And I found the show refreshing when I watched it.”
Safety and anxiety are obstacles to many people who fear solo trips, especially women. For Ross, security is imperative, just like what you want with your experience. “Once you have determined this for yourself, you can understand where it would be,” she said. “I like to remind people that you should ask yourself if there are parts of your identity which are the most independent and most beautiful parts of you, but which could perhaps leave you vulnerable in other environments, be it the LGBTQ, non-binary, a black woman, who cannot rain.
However, even with tons of preparation (and packaging for all scenarios), Ross reminds us all that sometimes you cannot anticipate what could happen. For example, during her trip to Spain for episode 3, Ross had a horrible episode of food poisoning and could not film or even leave her hotel bed, but she wanted to roll the cameras. “I couldn’t do anything about it because we had a short window for shooting,” she said. “This is why I left this few crying. Because not only did I feel physically badly, but I felt like I was disappointing everyone. But that was what we had. And it was good with me. We had to edit around history because no one wants to hear the graph in the backstage. It was so horrible.
The solo journey has also changed the way Ross sees itself. The unleashed video newspapers are saved in the whole series. “What I like in the way the show resonates is the intention of the show,” she says. “It is not a question of traveling, but can you be yourself, by yourself, in the world?” Can you be? Me.”
With fans so eager to travel again around the world with Ross in season 2, she is already considering where she will end up. “When we have made this season, I gave a long list of all the places I wanted to go, so there is still a list of places,” she teases. “I have a list of dreams. I would like to hear other people and get new ideas. I want you to combine in all places, and we want to accompany you. ”
