'Mixed-ish' star Mykal-Michelle Harris on her role as Santamonica Johnson and her desire to tell stories that 'others can relate to'
In 2015, the then-3-year-old Mykal-Michelle "Mimi" Harris went viral for a video uploaded by her parents where she tells her mother that she is "like Serena Williams". Holding a copy of Sports Illustrated with Serena Williams on the cover, Mimi talked about how her father said she plays like Serena Williams. Then Mimi went on to appear on 'Good Morning America' and 'Little Big Shots' hosted by Steve Harvey to talk about the video and her idol.
Now, 7-year-old Mimi is on her way to stardom through her roles on television. This year, in the second season of 'Big Little Lies', Mimi played the younger version of Zoe Kravitz's Bonnie in four episodes. On 'mixed-ish', she will be playing Santamonica Johnson, the younger sister of Rainbow "Bow" Johnson (Arica Himmel). On the parent show 'black-ish', we have seen the grown-up version of the character played by Rashida Jones.
In an exclusive interview with MEA Worldwide (MEAWW), Mimi spoke about her character as well as the latest 'black-ish' spinoff. On the character of Santamonica, Mimi says, "She is the youngest Johnson child, adorbs and is a sassbucket". When Bow's family is forced to move out of the commune, Santamonica will learn to live in "the real world" by figuring out who she is going to become. "It's really cool watching her live in this new world outside of the commune", said Mimi. While she admits Santamonica is the funniest character on the show, she agrees that Grandpop (Gary Cole) and Aunt DeeDee (Christina Anthony) are very funny too.
What Mimi likes to do is being able to tell stories that "I hope others are relating to", and she hopes she gets to do that with Santamonica Johnson. "As a kid, there are things we go through that another kid could help us get through sometimes instead of our parents. That’s what this show is all about. I remember when I was in kindergarten, I came across some “mean girls” and it made me feel sad. I talked to my mom who told me to take my power back and she told me how. The next day they had no more power because I took it all back!"
Mimi finds time to play tennis on the set with her father and brother and hopes to meet her idol Serena Williams one day as she is still her "biggest fan". It looks like Mimi herself is on the way to being an idol herself for other kids watching her play the youngest Johnson child on Kenya Barris's new show.
'mixed-ish' airs on ABC on Tuesday nights.