This episode of Awards Chatter is brought to you by Netflix, presenting Beef.

Nominated for 13 Emmy Awards including outstanding limited or anthology series,

CBS Mornings calls Beef the most powerful piece of art I've seen in many years.

From Emmy-nominated writer and director Lee Sung-jin, and starring nominees,

lead actor Steven Young, and lead actress Ali Wong, Roger Ebert.com calls Steven Young

one of the best actors of his generation.

And the Atlantic raves, Ali Wong has never been funnier or more heartbreaking.

Beef, the year's best limited series, is all the rage.

Hi everyone and thank you for tuning into the 491st episode of The Hollywood Reporter's

Awards Chatter podcast. I'm the host Scott Feinberg and my guest today is a widely admired veteran

actress whose nearly half century in show business has been highlighted by a best actress

in a musical Tony nomination in 1982 for the original Broadway production of Dreamgirls,

and a best supporting actress in a comedy series Emmy-win in 2022 for ABC's ongoing

Abid Elementary, the latter of which made her that award's first black winner in 35 years.

Cheryl Lee Ralph. Over the course of our conversation at her Los Angeles

home, the 66-year-old and I discussed her fast path to a career as a professional actress,

and her bumpy journey to opportunities worthy of her talents. Why, in 2001,

she walked away from the highest profile screen acting job she'd had up to that point,

a major part on UPN's Trailblazing Comedy Series, Moisha, and how close she came,

following some very slow years after that, to walking away from acting altogether,

the faithful series of events that led to her meeting Quentin Brunson and landing the part

of Barbara Howard, a kindergarten teacher on Abid Elementary, and how she feels about the career

...