Sheryl Lee Ralph Says Fans Would Mistaken Her for Whitney Houston

Sheryl Lee Ralph recalled followers by accident getting her confused with Whitney Houston, previous to the singer’s 2012 demise.

When the Abbott Elementary star, 67, was portraying Deena Jones within the authentic Broadway manufacturing of Dreamgirls in 1981, some individuals believed she was Houston.

“There was some extent after Dreamgirls [on Broadway] after I was getting on a aircraft, and somebody was like, ‘Hello, Whitney.’ ‘I’m not Whitney Houston,’” Ralph defined in a current interview with the Los Angeles Instances.

She went on to notice that she was on an airplane when this trade was taking place, including: “Time goes by, then the subsequent particular person says, ‘Oh, Ms. Houston.’ ‘I’m not Whitney Houston.’”

“Aircraft experience goes by, and the [flight attendant] comes with a bottle of wine and says, ‘I simply need to say how a lot I like you, Ms.—’ and I say, ‘I’m not Whitney Houston!’ The particular person backed up and mentioned, ‘I’m sorry. Aren’t you Ms. Sheryl Lee Ralph?’ I used to be so embarrassed,” the actress mentioned.

Elsewhere within the interview, Ralph quipped that she typically has bother placing names to faces, which impressed a operating joke along with her character on Abbott Elementary.

The Emmy winner has mistaken actor Orlando Bloom and others for well-known individuals she thought have been Black.

She joked that “for no matter cause, I see individuals in a different way than their names.”

“I knew for certain that Orlando Bloom was a Black man. I knew he was a younger, Black soccer participant. I knew it. After I noticed him, I used to be simply, ‘That’s not Orlando Bloom,’” Ralph mentioned. (Orlando Brown Jr. is an offensive deal with for the NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals.)

Ralph additionally believed that Intercourse and the Metropolis creator Darren Star was a “younger Black influencer.”

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She continued, “I used to be happy with Darren Star! Then I used to be at a type of balls, Elton John or Elizabeth Taylor … and somebody mentioned, ‘You will need to go and meet Darren Star.’ I mentioned, ‘The place is he?’ They are saying, ‘He’s proper there.’ ‘The place? That’s an older white man.’”

Apart from starring on the hit faculty comedy as kindergarten instructor Barbara Howard, Ralph additionally has one other gig on her plate. She is about to announce the Emmys nominations alongside actor Tony Hale on July 17 on the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles. The awards ceremony will likely be televised on September 15.

Ralph scored her first Emmy in 2022 for Abbott Elementary.