Marcus Scribner joins onscreen sister Yara Shahidi for season 5 of 'grown-ish'

HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES -- The fictional campus of California University is welcoming a new young student to the college scene to kick off the fifth season of "grown-ish."

Junior Johnson, played by Marcus Scribner of "black-ish," is now enrolling at his sister's beloved alma mater.

The Freeform TV series passes the college baton from recent graduate Zoey Johnson, played by Yara Shahidi, to her little brother Junior, who is trying to figure out his own future.

"Junior definitely fell on his face when he first attempted to go to college," Scribner said. "So following in Zoey's footsteps and hitting Cal U with a bang is something I never saw coming. I know Yara's been lobbying for it for a minute."

"I feel like it speaks to the essence of the show," said Shahidi. "Our characters don't stagnate. We get to follow them on their natural trajectories. So the fact that 'grown-ish' is there for a vehicle to see this other part of Junior's life is really exciting.

"It's been fun to come in with more of a big sister energy, feeling more settled, as somebody that has learned every lesson there is to learn. So I feel this season also allowed me to explore different sides of my character, which was fun."

The "-ish" world has been part of Marcus and Yara's lives for almost a decade. And they are nothing but proud to be part of this TV family.

"Just knowing that people were able to watch me grow through the years and were actually paying attention is, first off, a little crazy but it's also an amazing thing that there's this recorded history and that our characters were able to not only represent, but also inspire a future generation to just be themselves," Scribner said.

Season 5 of "grown-ish" will premiere on Freeform on July 20 at 10 p.m. EDT/PDT and be available to stream the next day on Hulu.