Anthony Anderson's best advice from his mom can be your new morning mantra

The actor talks about his directorial debut in the sixth season of "Black-ish."

May 14, 2019, 10:11 AM

Anthony Anderson stars as a hilarious father of four on "Black-ish" who doles out advice to his kids, but he said some of the best he's ever received came from his own mother, Dorris.

"Never compromise who I am," Anderson shared on "Good Morning America" of the advice that has stuck with him through his career. "I'm in the business of people telling me no. Don't let the no's discourage me because eventually, somebody will say yes."

When it comes to the influence his character, Andre Johnson, has on his on-screen kids, Anderson joked, "I'm a horrible father."

"A lot of what you see on 'Black-ish' is a combination of the creator and myself -- we are fathers and we are sons. I make the same mistakes everybody else does," he said.

The upcoming sixth season of the show marks an exciting milestone in Anderson's career.

"This is our season finale," he said, watching a clip from it. "And they let me direct this episode -- my directorial debut. I loved it."

"It was challenging, it was daunting, it was scary, it was all of those things, but my crew would not let me fall flat on my face," he explained. "And my cast was great. So I just want to applaud them for supporting me."

The Emmy-nominated actor shared a shot of the clapperboard with his name on the slate from episode No. 521 on Instagram.

"Dreams do come true. I get to live mine everyday!" he wrote. "Thank you to all who have helped me get here and thank you to all who help take me higher. I could not do this alone. Too many names to name. You all know who you are. My success is your success! I am eternally thankful, grateful, humbled and blessed! #justakidfromcompton #blackish #director"

ABC picked up season 6 of the comedy for the 2019-2020 season. The network also announced last week it will expand the franchise with an early series order to "Mixed-ish," a spinoff about Rainbow Johnson’s experience growing up in a mixed-race family in the '80s.