Rejection is part of every career out there and retains an even more dominating presence in the life of an actor. So, when Jennifer Garner and Sheryl Lee Ralph sat down to chat, the two celebrities opened up about doing the grunt work to climb to the top and facing their fair share of rejections on the way. But getting shot down is never a fun experience, especially when the reason behind the said rejection is one head-scratcher. 2qh1z

Sheryl Lee Ralph began her work in 1977 when she was cast as Barbara Hanley in A Piece of the Action. She has worked consistently since in such works as Search for Tomorrow as Laura McCarthy from 1983 to 1984, It’s a Living as Ginger St. James from 1986 to 1989, and Moesha as Dee Mitchell from 1996 to 2001. More recently, she was Claudette in Ray Donovan from 2013 to 2020 and has been appearing as Barbara Howard in Abbott Elementary since 2021. One of the best lines she delivered in her interview on Variety’s “Actors on Actors” episode was, “It took me 40 years to become an overnight sensation.”

Garner, who began her career almost two decades later, has been acting since 1995 when she was cast as Sasha in Zoya and has since appeared in projects like Alias as Sydney Bristow from 2001 to 2006, 13 Going on 30 as Jenna Rink in 2004, and the leading role of Elektra in 2005. She’s currently starring as Hannah Hall in The Last Thing He Told Me.

Even though they have a few years between them, they have a good bit in common as far as being celebrities, juggling families, and loving kids. They also had quite a few stories to share about climbing the ladder from the bottom to get where they are today. Garner was fired from costumes and sent to construction where she ended up getting fired again and sent back to costumes. Having faced a string of rejections herself, Ralph could relate to the actress as it is something that most stars in Hollywood have to deal with throughout their careers no matter who they are.

Rarely does someone jump into the highlight right out of the gate without dealing with the challenges that come with the career. But Ralph has been on the receiving end of some bonkers reasoning behind rejections and proceeded to share the strangest out of the lot.

“I know what it’s like to hear no after no, and some of those noes were for absolutely no good reason. Someone once told me, ‘You didn’t get the role because you remind me too much of my ex-wife.’ And she was a white woman!”

Well, a rejection without a sensible answer to the “why” is particularly unfair, but that’s the industry. Rejection is subjective and is thrown around like money at a club. It’s a good thing that both Jennifer Garner and Sheryl Lee Ralph stuck with it because Hollywood just wouldn’t be the same without them.

In an industry full of controversy — specifically the #MeToo movement — it’s undoubtedly important to stay true to yourself and remain a strong-minded individual. And if you ask Abbott Elementary star Sheryl Lee Ralph if being in the cinematic realm has changed her at all, it’s clear that she’ll quickly shoot down such a silly question. Then again, when you’ve perfected your craft as well as Ralph, then it hardly comes as a surprise that she carries such a strong opinion on the industry as a whole.

While chatting with fellow comedy actresses during a THR Roundtable, Ralph got extremely candid when discussing the importance of staying true to yourself as a way to “survive” the industry. As always, Ralph was completely unapologetic in remaining true to herself after all these years, all while reflecting on her peers that have allowed the industry to change them for the worse. Ralph said:

“If you don’t hold on to yourself or have a firm foundation of who you are in this industry, it will eat you up and one day you might look in the mirror and not know who the hell you’re looking at. And I have seen that happen over and over. I’ve seen nice people come into this industry and turn into some people and I’m like, ‘Whoa! Who are you and what happened?’ But then I’ve also realized, fame frees people up to be exactly who they are. So for me, as a grown-ass woman, it’s about knowing who I am.”

Without skipping a beat, Ralph followed up on those remarks by insisting that she doesn’t “play games with people” and she doesn’t play games with herself. At the end of the day, Ralph confidently states that she knows exactly who she is as a person, and that people will simply have to “take it or leave it.” Simple as that.

And with young stars such as Jenna Ortega and Elle Fanning sitting beside her, Ralph’s words are certainly a stark reminder that remaining true to yourself is arguably the most important thing you can ever do. It’s definitely a fascinating change from seeing Ralph’s well-known comedic side, although any version of her is absolutely magical.

Sheryl Lee Ralph has hit a career stride of late, winning an Emmy for Outstanding ing Actress for her role as Barbara Arnold in the hit ABC sitcom. And in a recent conversation record for Essence Roundtable she talked to her peer, and the only other black woman to win a ing Actress Emmy, Jackeé Harry, about the importance of being nice to everybody on the way up. Because the production assistant you abuse on set today may very well turn out to be Black-ish creator Kenya Barris.

The discussion, which can be seen on Essence’s website, began with Ralph explaining the importance of having a good mentor. She said that Tony-winning actress Virginia Capers gave her the talk about being kind to the people who work for her. As Ralph said:

“She said, ‘Be as kind as you can, for as long as you can, to as many people as you can because the same ass’ — and she said it — ‘you kick today, you may have to kiss tomorrow… That has just been so good for me because how many times has the young person that has brought me coffee turned out to be the producer in the next five to 10 years?”

Harry then responded that she had to learn that lesson the hard way when, as the breakout star of NBC’s hit 227, she chose to be rude to a PA who went on to create some hit TV shows of his own:

“You know who used to bring me my scripts for 227 to my door and deliver them? Kenya Barris. I wasn’t nice to him. See, look at me now. I ain’t lying, and he reminded me of it. He said, ‘Do you ?’ And wait — ego — I don’t .”

While Jackeé won her Emmy, and a Golden Globe nomination for 227 and an NAA Image Award for her role on Sister Sister, her career has slowed of late with her most consistent gig being as a series regular on the soap opera Days of Our Lives and the companion miniseries Days of Our Lives: Beyond Salem.

Abbot Elementary seems to be poised to take up its rightful place in the cultural landscape. The scrappy sitcom’s dedicated fan base, as well as its gifted writing and acting teams, have taken the show all the way to the Emmy ceremony and gold statuettes for star and creator Quinta Brunson who landed the win for Outstanding Writing For A Comedy Series, and Sheryl Lee Ralph who took home the Outstanding ing Actress honors. And now the show has landed a high-profile guest star to its second season cast.

Hamilton star Leslie Odom Jr. has been added to the second season call sheet according to the 2022 Television Critics Association held today. The actor and singer is best known for portraying Aaron Burr in the Lin-Manuel Miranda musical. His role on the show is undisclosed as yet, but he may provide a romantic rival for Tyler James Williams’ Gregory Eddie, currently the love interest of Brunson’s over-enthusiastic yet well-meaning elementary school teacher Janine Teagues.

Whether or not Odom will star as a parent or a teacher at Philadelphia’s fictional Willard R. Abbott Elementary School is unknown, but two other guest stars’ roles have been revealed. Euphoria‘s Lauren Weedman will feature as a hardboiled teacher from Abbot’s rival school, and Keyla Monterroso Mejia of Curb Your Enthusiasm fame will portray a new teacher’s aide with a chaotic personality. Season one regulars Chris Perfetti, Lisa Ann Walter, and William Stanford Davis will also all be returning.

Abbott Elementary season two will premiere on Sept. 21 on ABC.

It’s Wednesday after the Emmys and somehow we’re all still talking about the dumbest thing that happened during the awards ceremony. On Monday night, while presenting Abbott Elementary star and creator Quinta Brunson with an award for best writing in a comedy series, Will Arnett did a bit in which Arnett dragged out Kimmel, who apparently had too many skinny margaritas backstage.

It wasn’t even a particularly clever bit in the first place — the gist is that Kimmel used to be overweight and now he does all this crazy intermittent fasting to stay trim — but the joke became super not amusing when the late night host refused to budge even after Arnett read out Brunson’s name. As a result, Brunson, who was the first Black woman in Emmys history to be nominated in three comedy categories in the same year, had to step over Kimmel to delivery her acceptance speech.

People were very understandably pissed, even after Brunson seemingly took the incident in stride. It’s a savvy move for her in either case, as she looks like the bigger person while the ire of the internet can deal with a certain former The Man Show host. The 32-year-old had also been set to appear on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Wednesday night, where the host is expected to apologize.

But ahead of the appearance, Brunson was asked about the incident during the Abbott Elementary at the 2022 Television Critics Association, and not shockingly she handled the line of questioning diplomatically, according to Variety.

“I’m anticipating that we are going to have a good old fashioned time,” she said. “I have talked with Jimmy since, and I think no matter what, it’s important to just showcase that Abbott Elementary is premiering next week. It’s gonna be a good time and you’ll probably just have to tune in and watch.”

A.V. Club staff writer Saloni Gajjar, who was also in attendance, likewise noted an anecdote about how Abbott star Sheryl Lee Ralph initially thought it was Kimmel’s sidekick Guillermo Rodriguez lying down onstage, which Lisa Ann Walter confused for the character on What We Do in the Shadows.

absolutely dying at this interaction from the #AbbottElementary :

Sheryl Lee Ralph: “I first thought it was Guillermo [from Jimmy Kimmel Live] lying down on the stage.”
Lisa Ann Walter: “from WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS">will be ing the cast of the ABC comedy’s second season, along with actress and comedian Lauren Weedman, and Keyla Monterroso Mejia from season 11 of Curb Your Enthusiasm.

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Sheryl Lee Ralph’s Emmy Awards acceptance speech will go down as one of the most memorable in the award show’s history. The 65-year-old actress won the Emmy for Outstanding ing Actress in a Comedy Series for her work as Barbara Howard in Abbott Elementary, making her just the second black woman in history to win the award and the first since Jackée Harry, who won the award in 1987 and 1988 for her work on 227.

If fans didn’t know that Ralph got her start on Broadway, they certainly found out when she got on the podium and showed off her chops by singing her speech.

“I am an endangered species, but I sing no victim song. I am a woman, I am an artist and I know where my voice belongs,” she sang.

She continued the rest of her acceptance speech in spoken word.

“To anyone who has ever, ever had a dream and thought your dream wasn’t, wouldn’t, couldn’t come true, I am here to tell you that this is what believing looks like. This is what striving looks like and don’t you ever, ever give up on you because if you get a Quinta Brunson in your corner if you get a husband like mine in your corner if you get children like mine in your corner, and if you get friends like everybody who voted for me, cheered for me, loved me… thank you, thank you, thank you!”

The internet absolutely loved it.

Ralph started her career on the stage, and she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical in 1982 for originating the role of Deena in Dreamgirls. She also appeared as Muzzy Van Hossmere in Thoroughly Modern Millie (2002) and Madame Morrible in Wicked (2016-17). She released an album, “In the Evening” in 1984.