MARCUS SCRIBNER’S GROWING PAINS

For years sitcoms have been a staple in the landscape of American Television. They’ve made history in 30-minute time slots and have often times reflected changing society in a lighthearted way—no matter how heavy these shifts may be. Blackish is no exception.

Words by Dio Anthony

Cut from the same cloth as old-timey classics like All in The Family, Good Times and The Jeffersons, the family comedy premiered on ABC in 2014 to a world very much lacking a functioning black family in a primetime slot. Nearly 8 years later the trailblazing series remains, never shying away from the social issues plaguing present day society. Marcus Scribner plays Andre Jr, the oldest son of the Johnson clan, and he’s grown up, in typical child star fashion––before our very own eyes. 

DIO ANTHONY: I interviewed you during the second season of Blackish for your first cover-story with the cast. Do you feel like your character has changed much? 

SCRIBNER: The better parts about Blackish is our characters definitely have evolved a lot over the years. I feel like with a lot of other sitcoms, the characters kind of remain stagnant in personality. I've been fortunate enough to see junior grow up and evolve over the years. I definitely play him as a different personality type. As we all grow up, we, we go through changes physically and also emotionally, and I think junior has done the exact same thing. He's more of a straight shooter. He's more confident in himself and he's finding himself as a man.

ANTHONY: I still remember the trailer of the pilot where Junior comes home with his school uniform on and he's talking about lacrosse. Do you feel like he's an extension of you at this point? 

SCRIBNER: It's crazy. I feel like as he's gotten older, he's gotten closer to my personality type more. I've also found my footing in the real world and Junior has done the same thing as well. It's easier to step into the character and know exactly what I'm going to do, because we've been doing it for seven years. The writers take from what we like to do and infuse it into the character. It creates an exciting mix. That’s what's cool about the series as well––it's definitely a collaborative effort. They adhere to our input and then we take what they put on the script and run with it. 

ANTHONY: The series deals with a lot of great topics in great comedic ways. Do you have a favorite episode at this point? 

SCRIBNER: Man, recently I liked our pandemic episode where we talked to Junior about the difficulties of being a hospital frontline worker. A lot of people have not been respecting pandemic protocol. I feel like that word has kind of like lost its meaning on a lot of people. But it's a severe, catastrophic worldwide event. So yeah, getting to see that issue discussed on the show and the viewpoint of our frontline and healthcare workers made me really happy and excited. Another episode that comes to mind, and I can’t remember which one this was but–– all I remember is me and the and the other kids on the show got dressed up in all white clothing and fur jackets, fake of course. We got on top of an ice cream truck and were throwing money into the air. At the time, that was one of the most exciting moments of my life.

ANTHONY: I remember that episode. It was very early on. I also loved The Good Times episode.

SCRIBNER: That was a really fun episode to film. I remember studying old Good Times tapes for that.

ANTHONY: Super iconic. I also feel like watching the show, for a lot of people, it’s the first time they’ve ever heard of social issue or topic. Have you ever learned about something for the first time after having presented it on the series?

ANTHONY: I usually have a prior understanding going into the episode, and then do additional research as well. I like to make sure that my portrayal of a specific viewpoint is correct and that it makes sense. I've learned a lot from that research. Like you were saying, it helps a lot of people at home with that.

ANTHONY: Do you feel like you grow up a little faster when you're on TV?

SCRIBNER: I think you do. You definitely grow a lot quicker because when you're thrown into this sort of world, you get a lot of business and public speaking experience that you wouldn't otherwise. Which I've been very fortunate to receive. Your schoolwork is strictly business. You're just handling your schoolwork, there’s no social aspect to it. I think it prepares you for the real world in that aspect at a much younger age than if you were to be attending regular school. You're working with adults.  It was difficult for me from a young age. But, then you find your footing. I think learning is a big portion of that. As well as really getting to understand the business. 

ANTHONY: I think this may sound a little silly, but I feel like your generation in so many ways is unlike other generations in the past. Do you agree? If so, how do you think it differs?

SCRIBNER: I always feel like every generation probably thought they were unique. I’m sure when they were inventing Punk Rock they felt they were so original. I think every new generation thinks that they're unique and special. But I feel like one thing that we do have that no other generations before us had is access to technology and social media. Using these platforms to unify under social causes. Influencing people to go and vote or to take better care of our planet. That’s different, and it has been really cool to see. Social media can be an extremely toxic place where you degrade yourself and look at other people and compare. I think we’ve benefited from that access to technology––that instant connection. We’ve used it in beautiful ways but also horrible ways too.

ANTHONY: What's it like for you at 21 right now? What are you excited to do? 

SCRIBNER: I could do more, but you know, quarantine vibes. I’m 21, but I feel the same now, besides the fact that I can buy alcohol. But there’s no social aspect to that right now. Maybe by 2022 we'll do a follow-up interview and I'll let you know how it's going.

ANTHONY: Talk to me about the upcoming projects you have?

SCRIBNER: Yeah. I have some really exciting stuff. I've, I've been adapting a novel by Victoria Schwab. That's been a lot of fun. Working on the process of book to screen is a really interesting one. I've always been one of those people who reads the book and says, the book is always better than movie. Now having to come to terms with those issues as a producer on a book to film project has been very interesting. Trying to honor the fans of the novel, but at the same time, creating a script that's really entertaining is challenging. That’s been a lot of fun for me.

ANTHONY: You're also only 21 and doing all of this.

SCRIBNER: Exactly. Luckily I’ve got my dad here to help me. Being 21 can also be a struggle within itself. 

ANTHONY: What's your favorite person on Instagram right now?

SCRIBNER: Honestly, I've been very detached from social media recently. There’s this YouTuber named Fresh Kiicks who who does videos about cars and I'm a huge car enthusiast. So I've been watching him just tearing it up and having a good time with his new Nismo GTR. I also love Michael B. Jordan’s IG content.

ANTHONY: Is that what the young kids call it now? IG? I'm only 30, but I say Instagram.

SCRIBNER: It's a very touchy subject [laughs]. I G is also not super cool to say anymore. I think it's more of an ironic thing. Which, you know, it's kind of hard to get into the ironic portions of the slang, you know what I mean? Cause it's like, all right, I'm saying IG, but that's also throwback word to when we used to say IG when we were younger. People mostly call it Instagram. It's like, when you say the gram––  nobody really says the gram anymore, you’re being quirky by saying it. You know what I mean?

ANTHONY: I do. Why do you feel like you've been detached from Instagram lately?

SCRIBNER: Oh, don't be mistaken. I spend a lot of hours on my phone. I'm going to be real, I'm super into video games, when I’m not on YouTube. I don’t think I’ve ever been very good socially, so recently I’ve been getting more involved. I’ve been living in the moment, I guess, very present and trying to take in the world instead. I don't think I'll ever be able to shake video games though. So that's the only technology that I'll forever be attached to.

ANTHONY: Who’s your biggest influence is right now? You mentioned Michael B. Jordan. 

SCRIBNER: I just love what he's been able to do with his career. He started out extremely young like myself and he made himself into this blockbuster movie star. I want to hopefully be able to do that one day if I'm fortunate and continue to work hard. He’s an inspiration. I love Jordan Peele and what he's been able to do with his production company. He started out in the world of comedy and was able to transition over to doing serious films and being a serious producer. Which I think is really cool. Just showing that duality. I love Steve Carell for the exact same reason of him being able to show such a duality in his work. Robert DeNiro was also one of my favorite actors growing up and he’s the same way. 

ANTHONY: A lot of people feel this way about Steve Carell. 

SCRIBNER: Yeah, it reminds me of Robin Williams. You could see him in a comedic role and die laughing. Then in his next role, he’s making you cry. I really respect that.  That's what I love about acting so much. All of those men portray that very well. 

ANTHONY: You're breaking out into different types of roles now. Is there any kind of role you'd like to play?

SCRIBNER: I'd love to be a superhero 100%. I realize literally anybody under the age of 25 right now has said the same thing. But I mean, who wouldn't want to be a superhero? Growing up Static Shock was one of my favorite heroes. I love Spider-Man too.

ANTHONY: So do I. Do you have a favorite Spider-Man?

SCRIBNER: Favorite Spider-Man?  I think Spider-Man Noir. That’s a comic book one. I just love his face––it’s so cool. When it comes to the films, I don't want to poop on anybody. They all did a great job with the different aspects of the role. Toby will always be the OG, but Tom Holland does a great job and Andrew did a great job as well. It's tough to say. 

ANTHONY: They're all great. Last question is what's a movie that you've watched recently that has stayed with you after you finished it? Something that really touched you.

SCRIBNER: Dang. Something that really touched me.

ANTHONY: It could also be a series. Any work of art, really. Movies are great because they’re compact and so when it’s done, you’re done.

SCRIBNER: Right. I think I recently watched Sorry To Bother You.  So good. I liked how quirky and zany it was. At the same time, you understood the message of how we're all being oppressed and fed into the machine. All the while being hilarious. I thought wow, this is a really well done piece.

Photographed by Maarten de Boer Styled by Brandon Nicholas Grooming by Grace Phillips