Tracee Ellis Ross about making ‘solo -travel’, teases season 2
Tracee Ellis Ross is known for the leading role in heat television shows such as “Black-like” and “girlfriends”. But now the audience comes up close and personally with Ross in her hit Roku original series, “Solo travel with Tracee Ellis Ross.” The series debuted last month for praising reviews and soon became the most viewed un written series in the history of Roku and earned a 2-renewal season.
Ross always loves traveling, but it took a while before the actress nominated by Emmy realized that fans were flowing to her social media accounts to take a look at her stunning vacations. “I came home from my regular summer tour that I do with my friends every year,” she says Variety At the Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival (Mvaaff), where the series is shown on Friday evening on a sold -out audience. “And the man who helped me at the airport was like:” Girl, every year we wait for your first dip and we are waiting for your Paris fashion. ” He said, “I can’t even wait to see what you are wearing.” I said, “Do you mean that?!” ”
When he realized that there was an audience that was intrigued by her travels, Ross took the idea and ran with it. “I called my manager and I had something like that:” Is there a world where we could do a travel show that felt like the volume was somewhat from my social media? ” She says. [at] First.'”
Once she got production to buy in the packaging segments, Ross was on a role. The first season of ‘Solo Traving’, which consists of three episodes, follows Ross (and its iconic wardrobe) as she has adventures in Morocco, Mexico and Spain. Just like most travel series, the sighing locations shows, but what makes the show unique is the vulnerability of the actor, her individual worldview and how she deals with the emotional highlights and lows that are accompanied by only being in a new environment.
Solo -Travel has been part of the life of Ross for more than 25 years; She took her first trip in her 1920s. “I was done with this show and I had more money than I have ever had, which is not much,” she recalls. “But I had money and I thought:” I want to leave. ‘My friends were working and nobody was available to go with me. I had seen the pink sand resort [in the Bahamas] In Condé Nast Traveler. I can’t remember that I was scared or something. I felt safe and comfortable, and I remember it was a great experience. “
That vacation informed the way Ross travels to this day. “I talk about the fact that there are all different types of solo trips,” she explains. “Some people travel for adventures. Some people travel to meet people. Some people travel to escape their daily lives. Some people travel to decompress, like me. Since then I think I will continue at least one solo trip a year, if not two.”
Although Ross is an experienced traveler in real life, it took a bit of work to get the tone of the show just right. “It was a delicate balance,” explains Ross. “Some of the first cuts that came back, they filled them in with music, and I had something like” No. ” It lost the intimacy of some of these silent, lonely moments. “I made a conscious decision not to use a stylist or her and makeup. I had something like that:” That is not how I travel. So it must look like I travel. ” That was important for me, “she says.”
Safety and fear are barriers for many people who are afraid of solo trips, especially women. For Ross, safety is necessary, just like deciding what you want from your experience. “Once you have determined that yourself, you can find out where that would be,” she says. “I would like to remind people that you should ask yourself if there are parts of your identity that are the most empowered, beautiful parts of you, but may be able to make you vulnerable in other environments, or that is LGBTQ, non-binary, a black woman, otherwise, whatever those things are. And it may not ask those species.
Still, even with tons of preparation (and packing for all scenarios), Ross reminds us that sometimes you cannot anticipate what could happen. During her trip to Spain for episode 3, for example, Ross had a horrible attack of food poisoning and she was unable to film her hotel bed or even leave it, but she wanted to keep the cameras rolling. “I couldn’t do anything about it because we had a short window to photograph,” she says. “That was the reason why I had that crying bit inside. Because I not only felt physically bad, but I felt that I was disappointing everyone. But that was what we had. And it was okay with me. We had to edit the story because nobody wants to hear the graphic behind the scenes.
Solo -Travel has also changed the way Ross himself looks. In the entire series, springs are complicated honest video days where Ross becomes frank and emotional about loneliness and singlenness. “What I like about how the show resonates is the purpose of the show,” she says. “It’s not about traveling, but can you be alone in the world? Can you be who you are? It took me years to discover who I am, then have the courage to be that person, and even more to live as that person. This show is an expression of life if your owner is.”
With fans who really want to travel all over the world with Ross in season 2, she is already considering where she will end the next. “When we did this season, I gave a long list of all the places I wanted to go, so there is still a whole list of places,” she teases. “I have a dream list. I would like to hear from other people and get new ideas. I want you to go to all places and we want to go with you.”
