"We had earned each other's respect and care and love."
Tracee Ellis Ross is getting candid about the early stages of her relationship with her "Blackish" co-star Anthony Anderson.
During an interview with Access Hollywood on the PaleyFest red carpet, the 49-year-old actress confessed that the two didn't initially see eye-to-eye despite their incredible on-screen chemistry.
"The bond was hard earned, Anthony and I had worked together and we had hosted the Vibe Awards and I did not like him," Ross admitted. "Come to find out that he's a wonderful human being and we had such a fun experience working together that we had earned each other's respect and care and love."
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View StoryBack in January, Anderson detailed the series of events at the Vibe Awards that led to Ross' sour impression of him in an interview with Parade.
"We laugh about this now, but Tracee didn't like me for maybe 10 years!" he said. "We hosted the Vibe Awards [in 2005]. As we were walking onto the stage there was a loud sound over the speaker, and I said, 'Tracee? Did you fart?' The audience loved it, but what I did not know is how offended Tracee was by that comment."
"I remember I did an episode of her show Reed Between the Lines [in 2011] and all of my scenes were with Tracee," he continued.
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View Story"And when it came time for my close-up, she would leave the stage like, 'The stage is Anthony's!' I thought Tracee was just showing me the utmost respect as an actor. I was like 'Oh, my God, I've never been treated like this before! I was a guest star on her show, and she was just giving me her set!' Well, looking back on it, she didn't want to be around me!"
Anthony told the publication that Ross didn't warm up to him until they were halfway into filming the first season of their hit show. Although their relationship had started off a little rocky, Anderson and Ross have an undeniable chemistry on camera which is reflected in all current seasons of "Black-ish".
"But today, there's nothing that I would not do for Tracee," he says. "We work the same, we learn the same, we are there for one another, and we have the ability to work with such fearlessness when we're together, because we know that we will never allow the other to fall."