Sheryl Lee Leon Bennett/Getty Images
Sheryl Lee Ralph recalled fans accidentally getting her confused with Whitney Houston, prior to the singer’s 2012 death.
When the Abbott Elementary star, 67, was portraying Deena Jones in the original Broadway production of Dreamgirls in 1981, some people believed she was Houston.
“There was a point after Dreamgirls [on Broadway] when I was getting on a plane, and someone was like, ‘Hi, Whitney.’ ‘I’m not Whitney Houston,’” Ralph explained in a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times.
She went on to note that she was on an airplane when this exchange was going down, adding: “Time goes by, then the next person says, ‘Oh, Ms. Houston.’ ‘I am not Whitney Houston.’”
“Plane ride goes by, and the [flight attendant] comes with a bottle of wine and says, ‘I just want to say how much I adore you, Ms.—’ and I say, ‘I am not Whitney Houston!’ The person backed up and said, ‘I’m sorry. Aren’t you Ms. Sheryl Lee Ralph?’ I was so embarrassed,” the actress said.
Elsewhere in the interview, Ralph quipped that she often has trouble putting names to faces, which inspired a running joke with her character on Abbott Elementary.
The Emmy winner has mistaken actor Orlando Bloom and others for famous people she thought were Black.
Sheryl Lee ; Whitney Houston Unique Nicole/Getty Images ; BERTRAND GUAY/AFP/GettyImages
She joked that “for whatever reason, I see people differently than their names.”
“I knew for sure that Orlando Bloom was a Black man. I knew he was a young, Black football player. I knew it. When I saw him, I was just, ‘That’s not Orlando Bloom,’” Ralph said. (Orlando Brown Jr. is an offensive tackle for the NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals.)
Ralph also believed that Sex and the City creator Darren Star was a “young Black influencer.”
The cast of Abbott Elementary enjoyed a teachers’ night out at the 2023 Emmy Awards. Quinta Brunson, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Tyler James Williams and more cast members of the ABC comedy series hit the red carpet at the Monday, January 15, awards ceremony, held at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. Brunson, 34, looked pretty […]
She continued, “I was proud of Darren Star! Then I was at one of those balls, Elton John or Elizabeth Taylor … and someone said, ‘You must go and meet Darren Star.’ I said, ‘Where is he?’ They say, ‘He’s right there.’ ‘Where? That’s an older white man.’”
Aside from starring on the hit school comedy as kindergarten teacher Barbara Howard, Ralph also has another gig on her plate. She is set to announce the Emmys nominations alongside actor Tony Hale on July 17 at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles. The awards ceremony will be televised on September 15.
Ralph scored her first Emmy in 2022 for Abbott Elementary.
