10 Surprising Facts You Didn't Know About ‘Grown-ish’ Star Marcus Scribner

Marcus Scribner has come a long way since he first graced the small screen in 2010.

After making his debut on an episode of Castle, the 22-year-old actor went on to appear in shows like New Girl and Wendell and Vinnie. But his big break finally came in 2014, when he won fans over as lovably awkward Andre Johnson, Jr. on ABC's Black-ish.

Fast-forward to 2022 and the young actor is not only starring in the popular spin-off, Grown-ish, but he's also working behind the scenes through his own production company. Not to mention he's recently partnered with Tom's of Maine, which aims to support young activists who are involved in the climate movement.

PureWow had the pleasure of sitting down with Scribner, who discussed his work on Grown-ish, his latest film and the one TV show he's dying to be a guest star on. Keep reading for 10 surprising facts about the rising star.

Junior is going through quite the transition on Grown-ish—a process that comes with its fair share of cringey moments, we might add. So we just had to ask: Does Scribner identify with these things personally?

He told us, "Junior is growing up and still trying to figure out what to do with his life. He's having all these amazing experiences that are informing his worldview. And I think in a similar way, going from Black-ish to Grown-ish has done the same thing for me."

The actor also explained that they share quite a few personality traits, including their passion and drive. He said, "Junior gets very excited about whatever he's focused on and whatever he wants to do, or whatever he needs to accomplish. I feel like we very much share that characteristic. It's something that's been a core part of me as a person, and the reason I was able to play the character for so many years."

Scribner explained that he has always looked up to Junior's character, thanks to his kind nature.

He told PureWow, "He's got a great soul. He's a great guy. I honestly aspire to be more like Junior in a lot of ways. He's a beautiful person, he's kind, he's thoughtful. He's just a really great guy."

On Black-ish, we saw Junior in his element while he interned at Dre's (Anthony Anderson) company, Stevens and Lido. So, it comes as no surprise that Junior's future would involve advertising.

Scribner said, "I think after college, he definitely wants to follow in his father's footsteps and join the advertising field. I think that Junior has always been a character who feels very positively about affecting change and doing what's right, so hopefully, he joins some kind of environmental advertising firm or creates a grassroots project, because I think he's somebody who would want to create the positive change he sees in the world."

Yep, that's right. The actor revealed that his on-screen parents, played by Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross, have quite a bit in common with his real-life parents.

He recalled, "Reading the initial scripts were like, 'Do they have a camera in our house?' It's honestly just the Black experience in America. A lot of us go through the same experiences and Black-ish so carefully and amazingly executed it." 

The actor continued, "My mom, she's biracial, like Bow. She's also very successful and super driven. My dad's not as [intense] as Dre, thankfully, but I do see a lot of other similarities between my parents and my Black-ish parents. They're like a second set of parents for me at this point."

Scribner and his father currently run Scribner Productions, which aims to amplify the voices of young people in the BIPOC community. And his biggest goal? To create a groundbreaking film that resonates with viewers around the world—like Ryan Coogler's Black Panther.

"We're trying to uplift young Black voices and young voices of people of color," he told PureWow. "[We want to] bring them into the spotlight to create stories that inspire and excite people. We want to create the next Black Panther—that's definitely a lofty goal, but I think it can be accomplished eventually. And things that people can look up to and be inspired by, things that I had growing up that I want to create for the next generation"

In case you missed it, Scribner stars in the 2022 film, How to Blow Up a Pipeline, which follows a bold group of young environmentalists as they plan to blow up an oil pipeline. Although Scribner enjoyed working with the cast, he mentioned that the filming process wasn't always smooth-sailing.

He said, "It was a lot of fun to film and, honestly, I did not think it was going to turn out as well as it did. But that's how you know a movie is going to be great, it's when we have a rough time filming it. So it was definitely a rough shoot, but the movie turned out fantastic." 

How to Blow Up a Pipeline is an intense heist thriller that explores deep themes—and it's a far cry from the comedies Scribner is best known for. So what exactly drew him to this project?

He told us, "It was the messaging behind the film, standing up for what you believe in is what drew me to it. Also, with Shawn, I honestly felt more of a kinship to Shawn than I have with many of my past characters, he just aligns with who I think I am as a person now."

It turns out Scribner is a huge fan of the ABC sitcom, and we've seen enough of his comedic chops to know that he would fit right in with the cast.

He told us, "Honestly, I love Abbott Elementary. It's like, one of the funniest shows on TV right now. The Office-style camera moments, I do those in my daily life. So I think that's the show I'd want to be a guest star on."

(Quinta Brunson, please make this happen!)

Aside from enjoying Abbott Elementary, watching anime is one of Scribner's favorite hobbies of all time. And he's already got a recommendation for those who have yet to jump on the anime bandwagon: the movie Princess Mononoke.

"It is one of the greatest animated films of our generation," he said. "It's a great introductory one as well. It's about fighting for our planet [and] fighting for the spirits of the forest, it's fire. People love it."