‘Abbott Elementary’: Sheryl Lee Ralph Wanted to Play a Different Character Instead of Mrs. Howard
Abbott Elementary has become a smash hit in the past year. The hit TV series has been a boon for veteran actor Sheryl Lee Ralph, who plays good-mannered teacher Barbara Howard on the show. But before she started working on Abbott, Ralph wanted to play a very different character: the chaotic principal, Ava Coleman.
Sheryl Lee Ralph wanted to play the principal on ‘Abbott Elementary’
Ralph spoke about wanting to play the principal character on Abbott Elementary in a January 2022 interview with W magazine.
“Once I read the script, I really loved the character of the principal. And I said, ‘Give me a shot at the principal,” Ralph said. But the show’s creator Quinta Brunson wasn’t having it.
“[Quinta] was like, ‘No, absolutely not. You are Mrs. Howard. We need a queen and you are her,” Ralph recalled. “She may be tiny, but she is truly mighty as our creator. Quinta Brunson – that’s a name to remember.”
She later told the story in a July 2022 interview on SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle Show.
“I love Barbara Howard!” she said happily of her character. “I thank Quinta Brunson all the time for the gift of Barbara Howard, and for knocking me back in my place when I said, ‘But I want to play Ava! I want to play the principal!’ And she was like, ‘Absolutely not.'”
The hosts said that she wouldn’t have been a good fit to play principal Ava Coleman, played by comedian Janelle James, because the character is tone-deaf. “That’s why I wanted to be tone-deaf — because people can’t see me that way!” Ralph said in response. “And I would say, ‘Now this would be great to conquer that for people to see.'”
Sheryl Lee Ralph prayed for a show like ‘Abbott Elementary’
Ralph went on to describe how she got the part in the first place.
“Let me tell you how it happened. I shoot a drama at the same time that I ended up shooting Abbott Elementary, and it was called Motherland: Fort Salem,” she recounted. “We shoot this one-camera show in Canada in the winter. It was cold. I was standing up there in my little summer outfit in the winter in this airport hangar, and stuff was just happening. And I started praying. I said, ‘God, could you just give me a socially relevant show? Can you give me four cameras please? Can you give me a whole bunch of people that I cannot wait to see and I’m happy to leave, because I know I’ll come back and see them the next day, God. And oh, if you want to be nice to me, throw in some children.’ Because when you have children on a set, you literally have a life. Because children have to go home! And if you’re in a scene with the children, you go home too!”
“Well, I prayed, as my hands were freezing,” Ralph continued. “I went home. And I got a call from Quinta Brunson to read this script.”
“I read the script and I said, ‘God, stop messing with me, God! Stop messing with me! Because you did not just serve up to me exactly what I asked you for with kids included!'” she remembered. “I was like, ‘Hallelujah! Amen!'”
She won an Emmy for her ‘Abbott Elementary’ role
Barbara Howard was truly a gift for Ralph, who first became a star for her role in the original stage production of Dreamgirls. At the 2022 Emmy Awards, Ralph took home her first Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. The show’s creator, Quinta Brunson, also won for Outstanding Writing For a Comedy Series.
Ralph’s acceptance speech brought down the house, as she sang a soaring rendition of Dianne Reeves’ 1993 song “Endangered Species.” She went on to speak to the power of believing in oneself, and for having people like Quinta Brunson on your side.
