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Actress Sheryl Lee Ralph, known for her roles in Sister Act 2 and as Dee in the famed “Moesha,” is also the original dream girl, earning a Tony award nomination for Broadway debut role as Deena in Dreamgirls.
It’s an accolade she shares with Beyoncé Knowles-Carter who reprised the role of Deena in the 2006 remake of the Broadway musical.
And in many cases, actors who’ve portrayed iconic roles impart some type of wisdom to the next generation. But apparently this wasn’t the case for Ralph and Knowles. And over ten years later, Ralph still seems a little perturbed about the fact that she wasn’t granted access to mentor Beyoncé during production.
In an interview with Buzzfeed’s “AM 2 DM” show, she said, “I didn’t get a chance to because they kept us apart. They said—what was said to me—and, you know I’ve been around long enough to actually remember what was said to me, they said that it would a distraction to have the two of us together…What does that mean? So it never happened, we never came together.”
I can understand why Ralph would have been offended if she wanted to offer some insight and wisdom. But I think Beyoncé fared pretty well. She also was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance as Deena.
Still, this type of move is not unprecedented. Julie Andrews who portrayed the original Mary Poppins refused to make a cameo appearance in this year’s remake of the film because she didn’t want anything to take away from Emily Blunt’s portrayal of the role.
What do you think about Ralph’s comments? Should she have been kept away from Beyoncé? Does she have a reason to be upset…all these years later?
