Sheryl Lee Ralph sat down for an interview with Jalen Rose on the Renaissance Man Podcast on July 20 to talk about her Emmy Nomination for her work in Abbott Elementary, her upbringing, and their shared connection to Detroit.
Sheryl plays Barbara Walters on Abbott Elementary, a religious kindergarten teacher who cares deeply for her students. Offscreen, she’s a mother whose son was excited about her nomination. She said the announcement made her lose her mind.
“All I heard was my son coming up the stairs saying, ‘Mommy, Mommy. Did you get nominated? Did you get nominated?’ I could hardly get out, yes. You hope for these things. You dream about these things.”
Sheryl has an extended filmography, although the comedy show produced her first Emmy nomination. From Dream Girls, Claws to Moesha, Sheryl has been in the industry for “nearly five decades.
Sheryl told Rose that she thought she could fit into her character well because of her family’s history as a teacher. She tuned in to the desire to help others for her character of Mrs. Walters.
“My dad was an educator, broke the color line in Connecticut as a teacher, and ended up in New York as a college professor. My mom taught fashion and sewing in her younger years. My brother is a special-ed teacher in Albany. My sister-in-law is a retired principal. My niece has been accepted into the education program for her master’s at NYU. My auntie Carolyn is a very reluctant teacher who is now a retired principal in Washington, DC. And I could go on. I am surrounded by educators. There’s something … that makes them very special.”
Rose continued to bond over their shared love of teaching others and Detroit, the city that Rose grew up in and the home of Motown. Sheryl took the time to recall a road trip that she took with her family where they stopped to see one of the distinguished hearts of soul. She told Rose of one of her most clear childhood memories that inspired her to push further for her dreams.
“I pulled up with my dad, and I remember I had my dancing Snoopy sweatshirt on that was like a little dress, and my window pane stockings and my little white go-go boots. And I looked out the window and said, ‘Daddy, it’s the Temptations’ … They were literally walking right down those steps. And I remember Eddie Kendrick didn’t stop.”
She added that she and the Temptations member are now friends, “And I remember looking at all of them walking away, and it was like, ‘Wow.’ I could see my dreams coming true. I could see it happening. So Detroit will always have a special place in my heart.”
