Sheryl Lee Ralph on Playing ’Abbott Elementary’s Breakout Educator & Being ‘Blackfamous’ (Exclusive)

Sheryl Lee Ralph has been a staple of Black Hollywood since her breakthrough role as Deena Jones in the Broadway musical Dreamgirls. The 65-year-old actress scored a Tony nomination for the musical and captured the hearts of millions, which became the norm with her every role over the last five decades.

So it’s no surprise that her portrayal as the velvety-voiced, no-nonsense, God-fearing Barbara Howard on ABC’s mega-hit TV show, Abbott Elementary, has become a viral sensation. And while there have been a lot of memorable roles throughout Ralph’s nearly 50-year career, it all started with Dreamgirls.

“You know, just like doing Abbott, when I was doing Dreamgirls, I knew we were doing something very special. I knew in my heart,” she told ET about playing the musical’s first-ever Deena and becoming an icon of musical theater. “I knew that little Black girls would be able to look up on the stage and have an image of beauty, class, sophistication, dreams, heartache, moving-on-up affirmation. I knew we were doing all of that.”

Ralph explained that she, along with Loretta Devine, Ramona Brooks and theater director Michael Bennett, created Dreamgirls through “improvisation” developed through workshops.

“A lot of the story is about what we, the originals, put into those roles and the suggestions we made around the development of the show,” she shared. “So I knew how special it would be if it would be a hit, if it could last. And the fact is that it has lasted. Forty years and it remains one of people’s favorite musicals of all time. I can get messages and emails and videos from all around the world with all different kinds of Dreamgirls in their own languages. It’s absolutely amazing to me. And I’m very thankful to have my own chapter in theater history.”

Deena Jones is one of the roles that solidified Ralph as “Blackfamous,” in addition to dozens of film and television roles such as Lola Quinn, the wife of Denzel Washington in The Mighty Quinn, the beloved Dee Mitchell in Moesha and the fierce mama bear Florence Watson in Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit. 

By definition, “Blackfamous” is when an individual or piece of media is most popular among Black people while remaining relatively unknown among white individuals. Previously, in conversation with The Hollywood Reporter for a roundtable, the actress recalled a past incident on a TV set where a higher-up member did not recognize her despite her celebrated career. 

“Even in unsuspecting places, that can be very much a thing where there are certain people who have no idea who you are and what you’ve done after all these years,” she mused.

She brought up a similar incident to ET, recalling when she mentioned Washington’s name to an editor of “a very large magazine.”

“I said, ‘Denzel Washington is one of the most handsome, talented, good people ever.’ And they were like, ‘Really?’ And I was like, ‘Wow, this is deep,'” she recalled. “Now mind you, this was 30 years ago. But can you imagine that 30 years ago, somebody could not see him as one of the most handsome, one of the most talented human beings in the industry?”