Tracee Ellis Ross isn’t the only black star who got emotional while filming the final season of the ABC comedy series.
Anderson spoke about filming the eighth and final season of the show, which airs its series finale on April 19, in an interview that will air on Monday’s episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
When asked if he cried, Anderson replied, “I did. However, I haven’t cried as much as Tracee Ellis Ross. She cried every day.”
He said he didn’t expect to be so emotional.
“Actually, I cried a little more than that last day, I think [Ross] did, and I didn’t think it would hit me the way it did,” he said. “Because we had been working up until that moment – we knew what the last day was. I had prepared for it and in the last scene on the last day I lost it and it was unexpected for me. I didn’t expect to lose it like this but it just goes to show how much I love what I do [and] love doing it with the people I’ve done it with for the past eight years.”
DeGeneres noted he should be “proud” to have been part of a groundbreaking show that tackled many serious issues.
“We are, we are – from my accomplice who created the show, Kenya Barris, to our writers to our directors for everyone,” he said.
Anderson also reflected on the genesis of the show and the void it filled when it first debuted.
“When Kenya and I sat down almost 10 years ago, we looked at what we were missing in the television landscape – he and I as viewers – and we wanted to make an important show that would make an impact,” he said. “We took a page from Norman Lear’s book The Jeffersons, Good Times, All in the Family, and we wanted to do a show like this — a show with social commentary, with unabashed characters — and I think we succeeded. ”
Anderson received seven Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for his role as Andre “Dre” Johnson. He has also been nominated four times for Best Comedy Series as Executive Producer.
Last week, colleague Ross told DeGeneres that she was incredibly sentimental about filming the final season.
“All season I knew it was the end, so I was very present and aware of the ending, even the things that bothered me,” she said. “But for the last week I’ve really said to myself, ‘Just let yourself feel what’s coming,’ and I’ve shed a lot of tears. And it was really wonderful to be able to take a moment. I just talked to everyone and heard their experiences over the eight years and what was so special for them because we’ve been the same family for eight years, most of our crew is the same and it’s all so very emotional.”
Watch Anderson’s appearance on DeGeneres’ show below.