Sheryl Lee Ralph says she paused a filming session of "Abbott Elementary" to comfort one of the student actors.
"One of the boys, he's just a bright shining little light, and he was so sad in the classroom," she recalled on Union Talk, a podcast by the American Federation of Teachers, in a May 8 episode kicking off Teacher Appreciation Week.
She said she asked the student if something was bothering him and he shared that his grandfather died over the weekend.
"And I said, 'Oh, I'm so sorry,' and I gave him a hug," she remembered. "Then all of the kids came together to join in the hug. And we all hugged, cameras running now because we're working. We all hugged. And then when it was over, he said, 'Okay, I'm fine now,' and we just finished the scene."
She said catching real-life moments while acting together has been a highlight of her time as kindergarten teacher Barbara Howard in the show.
"It's those moments that make me enjoy acting as a teacher on TV," she said.
Ralph acting alongside the students and the rest of the cast again may be delayed. The show has been renewed for a third season and production was scheduled to start in early July, she told TODAY.com last week, but members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) launched a strike on May 2.
“They were supposed to be going back into the writers room (on May 3) to start on the third season,” she said, referring to the writers of "Abbott Elementary." "They won't be."
"Abbott Elementary" is known for its wholesomeness and focuses on how the teachers support their students. The Emmy-winning actor knows all too well how much kids remember teacher figures who take care of them.
She told TODAY.com that when she was in kindergarten at Driggs Elementary School in Waterbury, Connecticut, her teacher, Ms. Spencer, comforted her in a profound way that she still feels today.
“This young woman held my hand. This is a young white woman in Waterbury, Connecticut," she recalled. "I’m a child of the ‘60s right, and the idea that your teacher was holding you close, no matter what your color was, just spoke volumes to me.”
“I can still feel it to this day,” she added. “I’m left handed ... and I can still feel it and see where I stood with that teacher.”
Ralph shared what else she remembered about Ms. Spencer.
"She always smelled of a lovely perfume. It was probably something called ‘Joy’ because I remember my mother wearing that same perfume," Ralph recalled.
