Sheryl Lee Ralph talks actors’ strike, second Emmy nom
Published:Sunday | July 30, 2023 | 12:08 AMShanel Lemmie - Staff Reporter
Recalling a day that held mixed emotions for her, Abbott Elementary star Sheryl Lee Ralph says July 12 was one of her best and worst days.
Sitting with The Sunday Gleaner, the Jamaican-American actress recalled the moment she found out she had been once again nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award.
She said, “It was July 12th and it was like the best and the worst day for me because of course I woke up to the news that for the second consecutive time I had been nominated for an Emmy Award. Which is so interesting because I have a what, 40-year career and I’m an overnight sensation.”
Her nomination comes after coping the Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series prize at last year’s award ceremony. This year she is nominated alongside Janelle James from Abbott Elementary, Hannah Washington from Ted Lasso, Jessica Williams from Shrinking, Juno Temple from Ted Lasso, Ayo Edebiri from The Bear and Alex Borstein from The Marvellous Mrs Maisel.
Recalling her now famous acceptance speech from last year, Ralph says she hasn’t been able to escape the gaze of adoring fans reciting her words.
“I’ve been travelling and it’s just like no matter where I go in the world, they’re just like, ‘Oh it’s you, I saw that speech, I heard that speech’. And I’m just like, my God the Internet has made everything so close so quick. I was in Ghana and I was getting off the plane and people were like ‘Ma!’,” she grunted with a deep reverential voice.
“And I was like oh my God, it just the most amazing thing. But then after I settled myself, I realised that as vice president of the LA Local SAG-AFTRA union, that we were really very close to the possibility of a strike and by midnight that night, the vote had come down that we were gonna be striking.”
Actors in the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) union officially started their strike on July 14, mere months after the writers took to the streets, placards in hand.
“Strikes are very difficult, it’s hard enough that the writers have been on strike for such a long time without any movement and now right on top it, we’ve got the actors’ strike. The industry is going to take a very hard hit.”
Like Abbott Elementary, many shows have halted production with no clear date of resumption in mind.
“It’s very interesting because more than the show just finding its sweet spot, the show is literally saving TV. Quite literally,” Ralph raved. “ Abbott Elementary is what they call appointment TV. Families are making time in their schedule to watch that show. They watch it together, they talk about it and then they wait till the next day and then they watch it again on streaming. And our numbers triple when it gets to streaming, and that’s one of the things that we’re fighting for is residuals from streaming as well. How can you take the lowest number and say, ‘No, be satisfied with the lowest number’ when our numbers are tripling and you don’t want us to participate. It’s ridiculous.”
“But I look at it this way, if we’re out for six weeks that just means that I have 12 weeks because it takes at least six weeks to get a show up and running and get the writers’ room up and going with scripts written. We were supposed to start work on July 10th, it didn’t happen so we have nothing. So we’re going to have to start from scratch. Thank God we have an amazingly talented support production team, our producers are just wonderful, our writers’ room is just stellar, our cast, the people that I work with are wonderful to work with and it’s really just a great thing.”
While the nominations for the 75th Annual Emmy Awards were announced earlier this summer, the date for the show has been postponed due to the continued strike in Hollywood.