Sheryl Lee Ralph almost gave up on acting. She just received a standing ovation at the Emmys.

It was a big morning for the world of television as the 74th Emmy Awards took place at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. But none stole the show quite like Sheryl Lee Ralph, who won the Emmy for most outstanding actress in a comedy series.

Ralph, who plays the tough but loving kindergarten teacher Barbara Howard on Abbott Elementary, became the second ever woman of colour to win the award. Jackée Harry won the award 35 years ago for her role in 227. 

The audience could tell by Ralph’s reaction that she did not expect the win. Her co-stars ushered her up, and upon accepting the award, she began to sing Endangered Species by Diana Reeves, a song about staying true to one’s self, leading the crowd to a standing ovation.

“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," she added after the song.

"This is what striving looks like, and don't you ever, ever give up on you."

The 1994 tune makes a particular example of women’s art being ignored for much too long.

"I've been singing that song for years because I think of myself as an artist, as a woman, especially as a woman of colour," Ralph told reporters after winning the award.

Ralph began to sing as she accepted her award. Image: Getty.

Ralph has had a long and illustrious career in the arts, but has not received the recognition someone usually would, given her numerous roles and dedication to her craft. As her career unfolded, Ralph was told by various peers that she would constantly have to advocate for herself as a Black actress.

Her first big break came in Sidney Poitier’s film A Piece of the Action in 1977, a project she “learned a lot” from. Poitier himself gifted Ralph a makeup box as filming wrapped up, which contained everything she might need to continue to learn to do her makeup herself.

“He said, 'they’re not prepared for you. They’re not ready for you. So you’re going to have to be ready yourself’,” she recalled in an interview with NPR’s Fresh Air program.

"Hence me always saying ‘I stay ready’–because he really, really taught me that I had to stay ready because they weren't going to do the job for me." 

Speaking on the Emmys red carpet today, Ralph explained Robert De Niro gave her similar advice when they starred in the 1992 film Mistress.

“One day I was shooting a movie with Robert De Niro… and in between shots he looked at me and he said, ‘you are great, you’re DGA - a damn great actress. But Hollywood’s not looking for you, they’re not looking for the Black girls, so you better wave that red flag, and let them know you’re here, because you deserve to be seen’,” she recalled.

“Thirty years later I am seen,” she said. “Thank God I didn’t give up on me.”

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Ralph continued to fight for a seat at the table, even as those higher up than her refused to give her the roles she deserved.

During her chat with NPR, she recalled one casting director in particular who said to her, “everybody knows you're a beautiful, talented Black girl, but what do I do with a beautiful, talented Black girl? Do I put you in a movie with Tom Cruise? Does he kiss you? Who goes to see that movie?"

After a lifetime of comments like this, Ralph reached a point where she was almost ready to give up on acting.

It took running into a casting director at school drop-off to convince her to keep going

“She said, ‘what are you doing?’ And I said, ‘well, actually, I'm not doing too much’,” Ralph recalled of the moment.

“And she basically stopped in her tracks and said, ‘that must be because you must not want to do too much, or you've forgotten who you are,’ and I was like, ‘wow. What a perfect moment’.”

Ralph with her emmy. Image: Getty.

Re-invigorated, Ralph got herself new management and began to work with more vigour, taking on film and television work, as well as the role of Madame Morrible in a Broadway production of Wicked.

As her career has grown and progressed, Ralph has stayed grounded, taking great pride in even being nominated for the Emmy she won today.

"Whether I get that trophy in my hand or not, I already feel like a winner," she said of the nomination. 

"And forever after this, I will always be Tony-nominated, Emmy-nominated Sheryl Lee Ralph… I feel so good and so happy and so excited." 

Feature Image: Getty.