NPR

Tracee Ellis Ross Can Hit The High Notes, Too

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks to Tracee Ellis Ross about starring in The High Note, a movie about an over-40 superstar singer navigating the music industry with her assistant, who has her own music dreams.
Tracee Ellis Ross stars in <em>The High Note</em> as a legendary singer who is running out of ideas. Meanwhile, her personal assistant, played by Dakota Johnson, has too many.

Over her decades-long career, Tracee Ellis Ross has starred in beloved shows such as Black-ish and Girlfriends. But as she sees it, her latest role is her most daunting one yet. In The High Note, available to stream on Apple TV on May 29, she plays a superstar singer named Grace Jones, who's facing career stagnancy. Meanwhile, Jones' personal assistant Maggie (played by Dakota Johnson) has musical ambitions of her own as an aspiring producer.

When I spoke with Ross the other day, she told me that at the beginning of the movie, Grace finds herself at a crossroads. Does she keep doing the same song-and-dance over and over or does she take a risk and produce an album with all new material?

"First of all, it was so identifiable for me," Ross says. "But Grace Davis

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