Yara Shahidi Adorably Compares 'Grown-ish' Season 2 Pick-Up to Meeting Frank Ocean (Exclusive)

The 17-year-old actress also dished on maybe entering the writers' room in season two.

Yara Shahidi is on cloud nine!

ET's Katie Krause was exclusively with the Grown-ish star backstage at the Freeform Summit on Thursday, where she gushed about the show's season two renewal -- and adorably compared it to another big moment in her life. 

"The only moment this equates to is when I met Frank Ocean and had no words to say. Like, this is more than that," Shahidi said with a laugh. "This is tied to something that we're personally connected to and, like, it's just crazy to think that something that started as a conversation on the phone is now, like, a show and so there's so many levels to it." 

"It gets progressively more surreal," she added. 

ET actually broke the renewal news to Shahidi's co-star, Francia Raisa, on the red carpet, where she couldn't hide her excitement. "What's funny is I woke up today and I was like, 'I hope they announce it at the Summit or something,'" she shared. "I love my cast so much, and we have so much [fun] doing this, that I'm like, 'Gosh, I'm gonna see them all again soon!" 

Raisa is especially fond of Shahidi, gushing that it's"been amazing" getting to know each other, and adding that she wants to "be like her when I grow up." 

As for what the show's renewal means for season two, Shahidi has already been thinking of storylines.

"I think season two will really represent a time in which we get to know her friends a little more, and we get to establish her relationship with them a little more," she shared. "Also, I don't know if you can break a record of dating three guys in two weeks." 

Grown-ish creator, Kenya Barris, meanwhile, wants to see Shahidi in the writers' room -- which the 17-year-old actress is "so up for." But first, she's excited about reaching another milestone. 

"I can almost vote!" she raved, adding that the first thing she's going to do when she turns 18 next month will be "register to vote." 

"One of the episodes does cover what it means to have a safe space and having a political divide on campus, and also just is kind apropos to my life, because I have a term initiative for voter engagement," she continued. "I'm really excited because I can finally actually do the thing I've been talking about for I don't know how long." 

As for Shahidi actually following her character to college, after deferring her freshman year at Harvard, it's going to be a while longer. But she's found a way to get a head start at home. 

"Yesterday I snuck into a UCLA African-American history class. It was really funny because I was live tweeting for the show, and taking notes on the reconstruction era," she revealed. "But Grown-ish has gotten me hyped for college because it's like, I'm aware of all the things that I didn't know were going to happen." 

"After Grown-ish has mentioned them, I of course reach out to my friends, and I'm like, 'Hey, does this happen?' and they're like, 'Yeah, it does,'" she said. "So I'm really excited about just becoming a history professor and I'm also personally excited for the growth that Yara has experienced through Zoey." 

Grown-ish airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Freeform. 

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