Sheryl Lee Ralph is opening up about her close connection with the children actors on “Abbott Elementary.”
The actress dished on the young thespians while speaking on a panel – called “Abbott Elementary: Class Is in Session!” – at the D23 Expo in Anaheim, California, on Saturday, Aug. 10. There, she reflected on her experience playing Barbara Howard, who is a kindergarten teacher on the series, according to People.
“First of all, I really love Barbara Howard,” Ralph said. “It’s that favorite teacher or the teacher that pushed you to do just a bit better because she saw in you what you might not have seen in yourself.”
“When I look at these kids that come into my classroom every year and their little faces believing that I’m their teacher. Oh my God, it’s just the best,” she added.
Ralph went on to share that the children write to her once the season wraps.
“They’ll keep in touch; they’ll tell me what they did during the summer,” she said, adding that although she is not a teacher, she was “raised by teachers, surrounded by teachers,” and “getting the best of a fake teacher’s life.”
Ralph’s co-star and “Abbott Elementary” creator Quinta Brunson also dished on the new season of the hit ABC series while speaking at San Diego Comic-Con 2024 last month. Brunson revealed at the time that there will be a crossover episode between “Abbott” and a mystery show.
“I’m not gonna tell you with who, or with what, or where, or when, but it’s really exciting and I think it’ll change television as we know it,” she said on Saturday, July 27, about the upcoming crossover.
Brunson later shared her inspiration behind the special episode, telling Variety that she loved the crossover episodes that featured cast members from “That’s So Raven,” “The Suite Life of Zack & Cody,” and “Hannah Montana” on the Disney Channel.
“Those things are what reinvigorate TV viewers, TV watchers, and I think it’s always fun to find ways to reinvigorate our audiences,” she explained. “What’s important with ‘Abbott’ is we protect the show. Because it’s a ‘mockumentary’ we have to protect what we’re doing, but to find a way for it to still be possible to do something cool like that. It makes me really, really happy. It’s just like an ode to the medium.”
“I just live for those kind of magic moments, and I’m excited to be able to bring one to TV with ‘Abbott,’” she added.