'IT WAS A SCARY CHILDHOOD DREAM'

Tracee Ellis Ross, daughter of Motown legend Diana, on overcoming her fear to powerful effect

- GILL PRINGLE

When your mother is the legendary singer Diana Ross, you might think twice about pursuing a musical career. Which is why Tracee Ellis Ross, who stars in the seventh series of dystopian Netflix series Black Mirror, carved out an entirely different path, setting her sights on becoming an actress.

Ask her why she didn't want to follow in her mother's footsteps and she says: "Because I was terrified! My mother being Diana Ross, an international beloved icon; it's big shoes to fill. I worried about the comparison and the judgement.

"It was a childhood dream that somehow turned into this big, scary thing. The longer you wait to do something, the bigger the monster becomes."

TAKING THE PLUNGE

Tracee finally overcame that fear five years ago, when she starred as legendary R&B star Grace Davis alongside Dakota Johnson in the film The High Note - recording all the songs herself.

"What I discovered, which was the most exciting part, was how at a certain point, it doesn't matter what people think," she says.

"It doesn't even matter what you think, really; it's the desire and the dream that's in there, and letting that voice come out."

Tracee, whose father is music executive Robert Ellis Silberstein, fell in love with drama while studying theatre at prestigious Brown University.