'Abbott Elementary' star Sheryl Lee Ralph says she was once fired from a pilot for not being 'Black enough'

• Sheryl Lee Ralph recently told People she was once fired from a TV pilot for not being "Black enough."
• She also said on "The View" that a casting director said she couldn't star in a movie with Tom Cruise.

"Abbott Elementary" star Sheryl Lee Ralph is known for her roles in popular sitcoms of the 1990s like "Designing Women" and "Moesha."

But she said in a recent interview with People that she was once fired from an unnamed TV project for not being "Black enough."

"I was fired from a pilot because the producer told me I was 'not Black enough,'" she recalled, noting that the experience has stayed with her. "Those were his words. It was horrible. I can still remember the way I felt."

Ralph shared why she thought incidents like this occurred: "People's thinking was not very inclusive. You [had] directors who were still trying to tell you how to be Black."

But the "Ray Donovan" star takes her experiences in stride. "It's all about the lens that you see through," she said.

Entertainment Weekly reported that in an appearance on the March 4 episode of "The View," Ralph explained that she's also had the opposite experience during the audition process when a "big casting director" said he didn't know what projects to put her in because she is Black.

Ralph remembered that the person "looked at me and said, '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? Do you kiss? Who goes to see that movie?'" Ralph said.

The 65-year-old actor was pressed by "The View" cohost Anna Navarro to name the casting director, but declined to do so. "No, why bother? Look at me now!" she added.

"Everybody knew I was a beautiful, talented Black girl, and that I should be in a movie with Tom Cruise, and he should kiss me!" Ralph said.

She currently plays the strict but beloved kindergarten teacher Barbara Howard on ABC's breakout hit comedy "Abbott Elementary," a role that the show's creator and star Quinta Brunson asked her to play.

Ralph originally wanted to read for the role of the self-absorbed principal of the Philadelphia school, Ava (Janelle James) but told Bustle that Brunson had a different idea.

"She said, 'Absolutely not. We need a queen for this [Barbara] role, and you are that queen,'" Ralph remembered. "And the fact that this role is inspired by her mother, a veteran of education of the Philadelphia school system, a dedicated teacher. The fact that she saw me as that queen in that role of inspiration — not just to her but to students — it's a blessing."

"Abbott Elementary" airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.