Sheryl Lee Ralph has been tapped to star in the pilot for ABC’s new dramatic series, Harlem’s Kitchen.
According to Shadow & Act, who were the first to report the story, Harlem’s Kitchen” will center on Ellis Rice, the executive chef of a fine dining restaurant in Harlem whose business is upended when an unexpected death exposes long-buried family secrets.”
Ralph is best known for her roles on shows like Moesha, Ray Donovan and the 1993 movie, Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit. Her most recent role Fam Corinne Kingsbury’s comedy, Fam, but the show was canceled after just one season.
Last year, Ralph sat down for an interview with Newsday, where she spoke about ‘New Hollywood’s’ embracing of more diverse acting roles.
“I’ve done so many characters in the last year alone that would never have been offered to me in the past. I had to hang in there and continue working, continue believing that there was a place for me in this industry,” she confessed.
Lee continued, “Some people said just wait — maybe your time will come, or maybe you should do something else, but the right thing was waiting, and in fighting for times like this, and in speaking up. Thank God I did.”
She also revealed the series she has enjoyed starring in the most over the course of her career — “The one show I really enjoyed doing was ‘Designing Women,’: she said. It was a job I went after and literally collared the producer and said to him, ‘your show is based in Atlanta, Georgia and you’re going to tell me that after all these years, you don’t have any black women for these women to meet?!”
