Anna Daniels
Tracee Ellis Ross comes from Supremes lineage, but the actress has worked hard to set herself apart from her music superstar mother, Diana Ross. But she’ll be channeling a little of her mother with the upcoming workplace dramedy The High Note, directed by Late Night filmmaker Nisha Ganatra. In The High Note, Ross plays legendary pop diva Grace Davis, who yearns to do more than Vegas residencies and performances of her greatest hits. With the help of ambitious assistant Maggie (Dakota Johnson), she decides to record a new album. Focus Features has released one of the songs performed by Ross’ fictional diva in The High Note, in which she channels a little of the real-life diva she’s related to.
The High Note Song: Love Myself
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2EMCwF-mR8?feature=oembed&w=740&h=416]
It’s incredible to remember that The High Note will feature Ross’ singing debut in a feature film, because the actress sounds like she’s been doing it for years in the new song, “Love Myself.” An R&B-tinged power ballad, Ross’ character Grace Davis sings about self-love and self-confidence, likely inspired by her relationship with her assistant Maggie — a relationship I’m looking forward to seeing play out onscreen in The High Note.
Ganatra impressed me with the Mindy Kaling dramedy Late Night, which gave the spotlight to the rich relationship between Thompson’s cynical late-night host and Kaling’s aspiring comedy writer. It’s a dynamic that Ganatra seems to be repeating with The High Note, but I’m not complaining — we need a few more workplace dramedies about the complicated relationships between women. The addition of Ross’ relationship to the music world is a plus as well, though Ross has said that she didn’t draw on her own mother’s life while portraying her pop diva character.
“In all honesty, none of this is taken from the world I know of being my mom’s child,” Ross said in an interview about The High Note recently. “The only thing is that I always had the dream of being able to sing. But this character was so beautifully and wonderfully written, and the story really has nothing to do with any of the things that I know from my mom’s experience. Except for the fact that there’s a real humanity to this woman and she’s not a paper-thin quote-unquote diva that the world usually paints larger-than-life women as. She’s a real person.”
The High Note premieres t home on-demand beginning Friday, May 29, 2020.
Set in the dazzling world of the LA music scene comes the story of Grace Davis, a superstar whose talent, and ego, have reached unbelievable heights. Maggie is Grace’s overworked personal assistant who’s stuck running errands, but still aspires to her childhood dream of becoming a music producer. When Grace’s manager presents her with a choice that could alter the course of her career, Maggie and Grace come up with a plan that could change their lives forever.
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