When it comes to Abbott Elementary, we know all our favorite characters and the quirks that make them perfect. Emmy winner Sheryl Lee Ralph plays Barbara Howard on the show, and she's a teacher who has been there a long time and loves her students very much but also doesn't seem to love that Janine Teagues (Quinta Brunson) loves her. But Ralph is now sharing who she really wanted to play in the show. In a new interview with Variety post her win at the Emmys for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, Ralph shared that she originally wanted to play Ava Coleman (who is played by Janelle James in the series).
Ralph apparently said as much to Brunson before the series began and Ralph shared that reaction to the press, saying: “She was just short of [saying,] ‘Oh, hell no!’” Ralph said. “She said, ‘We need a queen for Barbara Howard. And you are that queen!’ And I was just like, ‘Baby, if you put it that way, How do I say no? What else do I need to know about that? I’m going to be the queen. I love it. Yes, I’m ready.’”
This worked out in her favor, because she won an Emmy for her performance as Barbara Howard. When asked how she was feeling about the win, she told Variety “I am on another planet.” It was such a deserved win and one that made fans over the moon for Ralph and the cast as a whole. Brunson also won for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series, and it shows us all the promising future that Abbott Elementary can continue to have with the longer second season.
“I think I’m on the planet 999,” Ralph said, adding:
"I feel like I’m just still floating up there. Like I’m having an out of body experience. I know something has happened because the glitter has come off of my face. But the response has been crazy. My husband and I were in the hotel and he got up and he turned on the TV. And I opened my eyes. And first of all, there was Emmy, right by the bedside. But I could hear these reporters talking about me. I could hear myself singing as they were talking. And I was like, ‘What happened in the past 12 hours?’ Everything happened.”
If you haven't watched Abbott Elementary yet, what are you doing? Go watch it and celebrate Emmy winners Ralph and Brunson and the entire beautiful cast.