At the beginning of this year, we announced that Yara Shahidi was getting her own spinoff from hit ABC series black-ish. This week, the actress talked to Jacques Morel over at AOL's Build Series about what fans can expect in this forthcoming spin-off and what to expect from this next chapter for her character, Zoey.

“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 see from her just in that she has lived under the guise of a family household,” she shared.

If you're a fan of the show, is it clear as day that Zoey is the popular, pretty, privileged girl that sort of just does her own thing because she's not only the oldest but she's indeed the coolest kid in the Johnson family. Either way, no matter how independent Zoey is, she always had her large family to fall back on. Her venturing off into the real world alone will give us a new perspective on her character.

“One thing that I had noticed in reading the script is that … while she is a young black girl in this political climate, she does have the privilege of being socioeconomically well-off,” she said. “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.”

Yesterday, Deadline announced that Saturday Night Live alum Chris Parnell, Veep's Matt Walsh and ABC's American Crime Trevor Jackson will also be added to the cast. Parnell and Walsh will be playing college administrator while Jackson will also be a freshman at Zoey's college.

Production for the pilot just recently started and the network has yet to release a premiere date or the show title but we should expect it by Spring 2018.

In the meantime, Yara Shahidi is preparing for college in the real world. She was accepted into every school she applied to, including four Ivy Leagues, two state schools and one HBCU which we're guessing is Spelman based on the interest she shared with the school in previous interviews. Shahidi was blessed enough to receive not one but four recommendation letters from First Lady Michelle Obama to help inspire the young actress to study sociology. The plan is to use this major along with African American studies in her journey to becoming a professional activist.

You better work, Yara!

Photo: Giphy