Sheryl Lee Ralph seemed stunned herself when she pulled off an upset victory, winning the best-supporting-actress-in-a-comedy award at the Emmys 2022 for her work on Abbott Elementary.
But that didn’t stop her from seizing the moment in inimitable style. Singing her acceptance speech, the Tony nominee for the original production of Dreamgirls quoted the Dianne Reeves song “Endangered Species” and sang, “I am an endangered species, but I sing no victim’s song / I am a woman, I am an artist, and I know where my voice belongs.”
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She already had the room on their feet – obviously! – but continued with the spoken part of her speech, and may have gotten even more inspiring.
“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,” Ralph said. “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 got friends like everybody who voted for me, cheered for me, loved me, thank you, thank you, thank you.”
On the show Ralph plays Barbara Howard, a veteran teacher who has earned the admiration of her colleagues, particularly Brunson’s striving Janine. Ralph has said that the success of Abbott, a true Cinderella story in an era when network TV comedies seemed to be on their way out, has already been a victory: “Whether I get that trophy in my hand or not, I already feel like a winner,” she told NPR. “The love that has been shown to me, showered on me, the flowers that have been given to me, literally and figuratively. I feel like a winner. And forever after this, I will always be Tony-nominated, Emmy-nominated Sheryl Lee Ralph. Oh, my God! I feel so good and so happy and so excited.”
Brunson, also an Emmy nominee, created Abbott Elementary based on her mother’s own experience as an elementary school teacher in Philadelphia. The series also stars Tyler James Williams, Janelle James, Lisa Ann Walter, and Chris Perfetti—Brunson, Williams, and James were also nominated for individual acting Emmys.
And the Emmy goes to…
The show, which entered the night with seven Emmy nominations, picked up one win at the Creative Arts Emmys last week, for casting for a comedy series.
The last time a broadcast comedy had a major night at the Emmys was when Modern Family won the comedy-series Emmy in 2014. Up until that point, network shows had dominated this category, with Modern Family winning five years in a row. But since then, broadcast shows have been left in the dust with edgier premium cable shows like Veep and streaming series like Fleabag and Ted Lasso winning.
Abbott Elementary’s fairy-tale first season, which was just 13 episodes, was met with critical acclaim, strong word of mouth, and solid ratings after it launched in December 2021. It became ABC’s highest-rated new comedy among adults 18-49, and in March was renewed by ABC for a second season, which will kick off September 21.
This article was originally published on Vanity Fair.
