Kenya Barris has a love of writing and directing but neither one tops his favorite role – fatherhood.
In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, Barris shared that he is thankful for fatherhood and being able to work with his children on set.
During the interview the ‘Diarra From Detroit’ producer was asked what it’s like to balance fatherhood with his illustrious film and television career, Kenya — who shares six children with Dr. Rania “Rainbow” Edwards-Barris — joked, “I’m not a father to them anymore.”
“No, I’m just kidding,” he continued. “I’m really lucky. My daughter works with me on one of my shows. My other daughters [are] interns. My son’s coming there.”
“They’re a little bit older, and they’re kind of coming into their own,” Kenya added. “They’ve really become like my best friends.”
The Clark Atlanta University alumnus, loves his family so much that they have been the motivation for his hit show, black-ish. His wife, “Rainbow” Edwards-Barris, is the inspiration for Tracee Ellis Ross’s character on the popular ABC series. On the show, she’s a busy anesthesiologist and mom of five struggling to provide a sense of cultural identity for their kids as the only black family on their upper middle-class Los Angeles block.
However in 2019, Barris filed for divorce from Rainbow following 20 years of marriage. Barris listed the reason for the divorce was “irreconcilable differences” and he requested joint legal and physical custody of their kids. But after reconciling, Barris withdrew the request a year later.