Sheryl Lee Ralph shares her mortifying 80s SNL audition story that proves even stars face crushing rejection
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When Stars Fail Auditions
Emmy-winner Sheryl Lee Ralph recently spilled about her biggest flop moment.
During EW’s Comedy Roundtable, she took everyone back to the 80s when she was fresh off her Tony nod for Dreamgirls.
SNL was finally diversifying its cast, and Ralph couldn’t contain her excitement about potentially joining the legendary sketch show.
Stage Fright Strikes
“They’re gonna add a Black girl!” Ralph remembered thinking with pure joy. She walked in confidently and ready to shine her comedic light.
But when the cameras started rolling, her mind went completely blank.
Ralph can still picture every excruciating detail of that moment – her outfit, the camera position, and the crushing silence where jokes should’ve been.
Famous Failures Club
Turns out Ralph isn’t alone in bombing SNL tryouts. John Goodman once described his own audition as “the worst thing I’ve ever done in front of people.”
Funny enough, he later hosted the show a whopping 13 times! James Marsden also crashed and burned when he bizarrely “clucked like chickens” with a friend during his audition, later admitting it was definitely not the right move.
Winning After Rejection
That SNL rejection obviously didn’t define Ralph’s incredible career.
Today, she’s killing it on Abbott Elementary with an Emmy win under her belt.
Her willingness to share this embarrassing moment resonated with fellow actors at the roundtable.
It just goes to show that even the biggest stars face humiliating rejections on their path to making it big.