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Sheryl Lee Ralph got advice from an unexpected source: Robert De Niro.
While speaking with PEOPLE at the Gotham TV Awards on Monday, June 2, the Abbott Elementary actress and Emmy winner, 68, shares the career-guiding advice that she’s never forgotten.
“About 33 years ago, I was doing a movie with Robert De Niro, and in between scenes, Robert De Niro looked at me and said, ‘Hollywood’s not looking for the Black girl. So, you better climb that mountain and wave the red flag, and let them know that you’re there,’ ” she says.
Ralph was filming Mistress, a 1992 comedy that starred De Niro, Danny Aiello, Eli Wallach and Jean Smart.
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The longtime actress, who also starred in Broadway’s Dreamgirls and Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, was honored with the Sidney Poitier Icon Tribute at the second annual awards ceremony, which she called a “full-circle moment” because of Poitier’s early involvement in her career.
“Mr. Sidney Poitier quite literally opened the door to Hollywood for me by casting me in my first movie, A Piece of the Action,” the star tells PEOPLE. “And he cast me over his own daughter, Pamela. Pamela always says to me, ‘Sheryl Lee Ralph, you stole my career.’ And he looked at me and he said, ‘Sheryl Lee Ralph, I expect great things from you.’ And I learned so much in that time with him.”
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The actress has had a storied career and most recently won an Emmy for her performance in Abbott Elementary. She shares that she’s not slowing down anytime soon and says, “It’s not over until you say it’s over.”
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“If you know it’s for you, then you keep right on going,” she shares with PEOPLE. “I kept chipping away at those glass ceilings. I kept trying to recreate myself to stay relevant, to open doors that were very tightly shut, and at times, build my own table. I look back now and I say, ‘Thank you, Mr. Poitier. Thank you very much because I’m still here.’ ”
