Tracee Ellis Ross Opens Up About Boyfriend, “I’m not going to hide my relationship” + What Natural Hair Did For Her

For Uptown Magazine‘s new Hollywood & Spring Fashion Issue, beautiful, 39-year-old actress Tracee Ellis Ross dons the cover. For the interview she talked about her fashion sense, her big hair, and her great personality. Plus she mentions her relationships with her mom, Diana Ross, neighbor, Kanye West, and boyfriend, Bu Thiam. Peep the quotes:

On her fashion inspiration:

“I have loved magazines since I was a child… And let me explain something, I do not read magazines, I look at the pictures… When I was in high school I would make wish boards. They were feelings and images, not words. It was all fashion.”

On her personality:

“I was shy, but it came out in a big personality. My turning point was when I let my hair go naturally and I got contact lenses. I am really blind, by the way. I have these big eyes that don’t work!”

On her mother, Diana Ross:

“My mom’s career gave me the benefit of a great life and influenced my style and who I am as a person. I felt afraid about that early on in my career, [but] I am comfortable enough in my own skin now. And Hollywood does not work like that. They will unlock the door, but they sit back and wait to see how you are going to walk through the door.”

Comparing her role in “Girlfriends” to her role in “Reed Between the Lines”:

“I enjoyed playing a different role. Carla is so different from Joan. And I am at a different point in my life. Joan and Carla are pieces of me. But I am much more than both of them. Joan was a very specific piece of me. She was neurotic, faithless, and afraid, which lends itself to some really good humor. Carla is the evolved version of Joan. She has the love that Joan was looking for, so it creates humor from a different place.”

On Kanye West:

“Kanye and I are neighbors [in L.A.], so we would see each other. Then we were introduced by a mutual friend, and he asked me to be in the video for his song ‘The New Workout Plan’. We can talk for hours about fashion. His closet is ridiculous. I will see him, and he will look down and ask, ‘Azzedine Alaia?’ and I am like, ‘Yeah.’ When I showed him the clip of me in the Thierry Mugler show, he was like, ‘Shut the fuck up! I am obsessed with those two seasons of Mugler.’ We are good friends.”

On her relationship with Bu Thiam (Akon’s brother):

“I am not going to hide my relationship, but I am not talking about it. When you do that, you invite other people and their opinions and issues in. You can’t discover the person on your own.”

-@Kami2Kute

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