Yara Shahidi Talks Zoey’s Evolution On ‘Black-ish’ Spinoff

Yara Shahidi and her Black-ish character Zoey are both en route to college. The NAACP Image Award-winning actress, who has been accepted into every school she applied to with some assistance from Michelle Obama, spoke with AOL’s Build Series about what viewers at home can expect from the pending ABC series.

“While Zoey has taken so many steps as a young woman and young woman of color to become an independent and to become an activist and to become socially aware, I think this is the most growth we’ve seen from her just in that she has lived under the guise of a family household,” she said.

READ: Michelle Obama Wrote A College Letter Of Recommendation For Yara Shahidi

The Ivy Park model later broke down why moving to a new environment will force the eldest child of the Johnson clan out of her comfort zone.

“While she is a young black girl in this political climate, she does have the privilege of being socioeconomically well-off, in which case college, you don’t see that,” she explained. “College, at least for Zoey, is no longer a factor she can hide under or hide with. And so we’re no longer talking about race but the intersection of race and gender and sexuality and the intersection of race and politics, and she finally has to kind of deal on her own.”

READ: ‘Black-ish’ Star Yara Shahidi Pays Homage To Sade By Recreating One Of Her Most Iconic Photos

Though she kept her top choice in higher education under wraps, Shahidi did share her personal plans to major in African-American Studies to help her be a liaison for her community. We think she’s already off to a great start.