Marcus Scribner Is All Grown Up

Last month, the fifth season of grown-ish premiered with an episode in which the freshman Andre "Junior" Johnson, played by Marcus Scribner, overcomes his lack of enthusiasm about Cal U and embraces the full college experience during a brief heart-to-heart with his older sister Zoey (Yara Shahidi) at a party. This interaction, and a similar conversation with his father about the need for emotional vulnerability as opposed to stoicism, underscored the comedic but reflective tone that has kept audiences invested in the Johnson family even after black-ish, the hit ABC comedy that first introduced them, ended its run earlier this year. "Junior learned a lot about himself through that connection that he finally made with [his father] Dre," Scribner thoughtfully explains about black-ish's last season. "That was a big moment in their relationship. He has really matured as a character and he's taking that maturity into grown-ish but it gets flipped on its head as he's introduced to new characters and gets to expand outside of his family." Crossing over after eight years on black-ish to its spinoff, the actor says he is ready to explore his character in new situations. "We usually just see Junior around his family members. He's finally taking social cues and letting loose after those final black-ish episodes."

As Scribner talks, it takes me a minute to ​​distinguish the same voice so often heard cracking jokes and hitting punch lines from the calmer cadence now offering access to the process behind it all. The 22-year-old actor is just as warm and welcoming as his onscreen counterpart, yet more deliberate. Scribner has played Junior, the second-eldest child of the Johnson family, for nearly a decade now. Black-ish, which premiered in 2014, centered around Andre Johnson (Anthony Anderson), his wife Rainbow (Tracee Ellis Ross), and their five children living as an upper-middle-class Black family in our modern political climate with humor. Its spinoff grown-ish focuses on the eldest Johnson, Zoey, as she ventures into adulthood as a college student. In the new season, Junior decides to return to college after several gap years, the end of a serious relationship, and a stint working at his father's advertising agency.

Throughout the course of black-ish, Junior matured from the odd, comedic foil of his family into a confident young man with the same core values that he held as a young child. Junior has been allowed to mold and change throughout the years, becoming a working professional and entering a long-term relationship. However, like everyone else, he must adapt to wholly new and unexpected circumstances when he begins college. "Junior has always been really sure of himself but suffers from anxiety, dealing with everything that is on his plate," Scribner says. "He has so many things going on that we'll see developing throughout the season. Junior learns more about hookup culture and that you can enjoy an experience together but don't have to stay together forever. He has always been a serial dater, but is now expanding outside his comfort zone and realizes everything doesn't have to be so serious. That's a really big step for the character."

As Scribner has grown and aged, the character has done the same alongside him, with complexity and nuance. While Junior has always espoused interests that can be considered "nerdy," he is never made out to be one-note or devoid of sexuality. Often, young Black men who are interested in anime or superheroes are deemed weak and cast aside in comedies, made into a joke or shown becoming jaded. On black-ish, while Junior often rambled about Star Wars and demonstrated a deep affection for his mother, which was sometimes played for laughs, he was still unapologetically confident. While these characteristics were later embraced, one of the main concerns of the series was whether or not the Johnson children were having authentic "Black" experiences due to their privileges growing up in an upper-middle-class family. The jokes made at Junior's expense are rooted in the often real fears of Black parents who are able to provide a better lifestyle for their children than they had. The show does not shy away from these conversations but also ultimately realizes they are complicated questions and vindicates Junior's character. "He's getting naked in our first episode, which is crazy," Scribner says. "He's developing a new love interest and exploring new career paths and struggling like he never has before. Junior has always been a smart character but now he's finally struggling with time management and anxiety that you're not prepared for. Junior is finally facing those."

Before Junior is able to embrace the new challenges that come with college, he must overcome the chip on his shoulder tied to the superiority that he feels from his experience as an adult living on his own. Unlike most of the other characters on grown-ish, the college campus is not Junior's first time holding adult responsibilities. He already has one foot in and one foot out of Cal U. "In the beginning, he definitely comes in as a jaded character because he's lived real life already," Scribner explains. "Most people come to college for the first time on their own. Junior has been on his own for four or five years at that point. He thinks he will go in, get his degree, and get out. But he finds out that college has the opportunity to bring new opportunities and new things to learn. As the season progresses, he realizes that this is the time to find himself."

As in so many movies and shows before, Junior finds himself changed by college life in ways he never expected. What sets grown-ish apart is its unique perspective on that growth. "Junior has always been sure of himself and done what he thinks is right. I've always admired that about him as a character. He's never afraid of being himself and being different," Scribner says. "Going into grown-ish, it's upped tenfold with a newfound confidence in a new setting. He's joining a fraternity, he's going wild and living the college dream. He's getting into a new career path prominent in culture right now. He's doing it all. This is what college is all about: expanding and exploring. He's taken that to heart and brought his own unique flair to it."

While Scribner discovers new parts of his character in a new setting, he also gets to share the screen with a familiar screen partner, with Shahidi continuing as his sister. This is the first time since the third season of black-ish that the two actors have worked regularly side by side and they are clearly making the most of it. "I love Yara. It’s a great time, we have similar personalities," Scribner says. "She's given me a lot of tips about what it's like working on grown-ish. Working alongside her is a breath of fresh air and we rarely get to work together. Zoey is a great guiding force for Junior. I'm happy that she's continuing to be a part of the show and to lead it."

With our chat coming to a close, I wonder how transitioning from black-ish to grown-ish has affected Scribner's outlook on filmmaking. "Black-ish is very much a sitcom and a lot is done on stage," he explains. "While we do a lot on stage on grown-ish, there are more locations. I love that this season has a very abstract approach to the format. The cinematography is insane and visually stunning." He is also venturing into more dramatic work and is excited to showcase his range to audiences who might only know him as Junior. In 2020, he appeared opposite Jayme Lawson in the Sundance favorite Farewell Amor, and he is the head of Scribner Productions, which he started to uplift young Black people and has become a launchpad for people of color looking to break into the entertainment industry. Through the company, he has projects in the pipeline with Issa Rae as well as a number of novel adaptations. Scribner Productions recently finished its first film, How I Learned to Fly, which Scribner likens to The Pursuit of Happyness.

After I hang up from our call, the smile never leaves me. The joy Marcus Scribner continues to feel bringing the character of Junior to life is palpable throughout our conservation and lingers. It is clear that there is still so much story left to be seen through the eyes of this character and the -ish universe. What a joy to watch young Black men, both real and fictional, given room to grow and flourish.

grown-ish continues on Wednesdays on Freeform.

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