‘Black-ish’ Cast Then & Now: Photos Of Tracee Ellis Ross & More From First Season To Now

By:

Christina Casiano

April 19, 2022 10:20AM EDT

‘Black-ish’ is bidding farewell after 8 seasons. See the beloved cast of the show from season 1 to now. The kids are all grown up!

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The Cast Of ‘Black-ish’: Then & Now

The Cast Of ‘Black-ish’: Then & Now — In 2021, ‘black-ish’ creator Kenya Barris announced that his show was renewed for its eighth and final season. It was bittersweet news for many fans, who have watched the cast of the ABC series grow up ever since the show’s premiere in September 2014. The show follows married couple Andre ‘Dre’ Johnson (played by Anthony Anderson) and Rainbow Johnson (played by Tracee Ellis Ross) and their five children: Zoey Johnson (Yara Shahidi), Andre ‘Junior’ Johnson (Marcus Scribner), Jackson ‘Jack’ Johnson (Miles Brown), Diane Johnson (Marsai Martin), and DeVante Johnson (August and Berlin Gross).

There are other beloved characters on the cast, too, like Dre’s mom Ruby Johnosn (played by Jenifer Lewis), and Dre’s best friend/co-worker Charlie Telphy (played by Deon Cole).

Each cast member has gone through many life changes, both in their on-screen and off-screen lives. From big life developments in the show to huge moves in the actors’ careers, scroll below to see the cast of ‘black-ish then and now!

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Anthony Anderson

Anthony Anderson — Anthony Anderson plays the husband and father of the Johnson family, Andre ‘Dre’ Johnson, on ‘black-ish,’ which he also executive produces. His character is an advertising executive at Stevens & Lido in the show, and the role has earned Anthony many awards and nominations. He won Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series at the NAACP Image Awards three years in a row between 2018 and 2020.

He recently reprised the role of Detective Kevin Bernard in season 21 of ‘Law & Order,’ which premiered in February 2022.

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Tracee Ellis Ross

Tracee Ellis Ross — Tracee Ellis Ross plays Dr. Rainbow ‘Bow’ Johnson, the wife and mother of the Johnson family, on ‘black-ish.’ The success of the series led Tracee to co-create a spin-off series called ‘mixed-ish’ with the creators of ‘black-ish, Kenya Barris and Peter Saji. Tracee narrated the series that told Rainbow’s experience of growing up in a mixed-race family in the ’80s. Sadly, it was announced in May 2021 that the show was not renewed after two seasons.

Tracee, who is also the daughter of the legendary singer Diana Ross, has also gone on to star in her own movie called ‘The High Note,’ which came out in 2020. The actress will also appear in ‘The Kids in the Hall’ revival.

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Yara Shahidi

Yara Shahidi — Yara Shahidi’s role as the eldest child of the Johnson family, Zoey Johnson, led her to become one of the most famous stars of the Gen-Z generation! Yara was only 14 years old when ‘black-ish’ premiered, and she has gone on to star in her own spin-off series called ‘grown-ish,’ which has followed her character to college. She’s also making moves in the film world — she will play Tinker Bell in the live-action film ‘Peter Pan & Wendy,’ which will come out in 2022. Yara will also return for the fifth season of ‘grown-ish.’

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Marcus Scribner

Marcus Scribner — Like Yara Shahidi, Marcus Scribner also spent pretty much all of his teenage years on ‘black-ish’ since he was 14 years old as well when the show premiered. He has gone on to take more roles, such as a starring voice role in the Netflix animated series ‘She-Ra and the Princesses of Power,’ which premiered in 2018 and wrapped after five seasons in 2020.

He will reprise the role of Junior on ‘grown-ish’ full-time in season 5. He’ll join his ‘black-ish’ co-star Yara Shahidi on the Freeform series and ‘black-ish’ spinoff.

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Marsai Martin

Marsai Martin — Marsai Martin was just 10 years old when she began playing Diane Johnson on ‘black-ish.’ In addition to ‘black-ish,’ Marsai made history when she became the youngest person ever to produce a movie at 13 years old. The movie, ‘Little,’ was released in 2019. She also voiced the role of Aggro in ‘DreamWorks Dragons: Rescue Riders.’

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Miles Brown

Miles Brown — Miles Brown plays Jack, who is Diane’s fraternal twin, on ‘black-ish.’ He was also only 9 years old when the show premiered. Like all the other cast members on the series, Miles has already accomplished so much while still a teen! He starred in films like ‘Boy Genius’ and dropped his debut album, ‘We the Future,’ in October 2020.

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Laurence Fishburne

Laurence Fishburne — Laurence Fishburne was already a famous actor before taking on the role of Earl ‘Pops’ Johnson on ‘black-ish.’ You probably recognize him for his most famous role: Morpheus in the ‘Matrix’ film series! Since the premiere of ‘black-ish,’ Laurence has starred in many more movies, like the ‘John Wick’ sequels with his ‘Matrix’ co-star Keanu Reeves.

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