Sheryl Lee Ralph on fighting to make sure her Fabulous Four character wasn't 'a petty drug dealer'

Working on her new film, The Fabulous Four, reminded Sheryl Lee Ralph of an all-too-important lesson: always believe in yourself and trust your instincts.

"Sometimes you do things, and then you think you know [what you're doing], but making this film, I realized, oh, I know that I know what I'm doing in this industry," she tells Entertainment Weekly.

She's talking about the major changes she suggested making to the movie, specifically involving her character, Kitty. The wild, raunchy comedy follows three lifelong friends, played by Ralph, Susan Sarandon, and Megan Mullally, who travel to Key West to be bridesmaids in a surprise wedding of their college girlfriend, Marilyn (Bette Midler).

Many of the hijinks involve cannabis edibles provided by Ralph's character, who is a botanist. But the role almost looked very different, according to the star. "Before, the character was basically a petty drug dealer. And I said, as a Black female, I am very concerned about the image that I show to the world. And I say we have enough Black drug dealers of any sort. I said, let's make it different," she says.

Ralph continues, "In this time where cannabis is now legal, let's make her a botanist, a woman who studies cannabis. She's interested in growing and refining the derivatives of the root that is cannabis. And she's stumbled across a product that is doing very well with Miss Kitty's Edibles, that's a product that she's developed with her grandson. They loved that idea, and it just worked out to be something that was very good."

Another major change Ralph suggested involved her character's grandson, Nathan (Kadan Well Bennett). Nathan is a young, gay man who has left the home of his seemingly unsupportive mother and, unbeknownst to everyone, taken up dancing at a strip club in Key West. He later gets a moment of reconciliation with his mom (played by Brandee Evans), which was not initially in the script.

"The fact that her grandson is a beautiful, young, gay, Black man, I said, if we're going to have this storyline, let's give this storyline some respect because so many young Black men are kicked out of their churches, kicked out of their families — and other gay people as well — for being exactly who they are," Ralph says. "And I said, let us give this relationship, this human being, the respect that they deserve. And they were very open to that. And when I look at the scene that he has with his mother, I'm just like, 'Thank you, God.' They were open, and it just made it all the better."

The film's director, Jocelyn Moorhouse, tells EW that she "treasured" the actress's creative input in crafting the character, a process she says began with Sissy Spacek, who was initially cast in the role. “Originally, the character of Kitty was an organic farmer," Moorhouse explains. "Then, somewhere along the line, Sissy [Spacek] suggested she be a legal pot farmer. Then Sissy broke her leg, and I cast Sheryl Lee, who suggested Kitty be a certified horticulturist with many degrees and a small business. Her character’s daughter went from just wanting to put her mum in a home (who would dare try to put Sheryl Lee Ralph anywhere she didn’t want to be?) to being a born-again Christian cult member who thinks putting her mum in a home will stop her from growing pot. Sheryl had many, many great ideas, as did the other actresses. I treasured all their contributions to the movie.”

Ultimately, pitching and later seeing these ideas come to fruition was a positive and fulfilling experience for the Emmy winner. "They were very open to those ideas, and I was really happy because sometimes people want what they want and what is there, and they went with the thoughts and the ideas. And when I look at the movie now, I'm just like, wow, this could actually be a summer hit movie. And I'm happy. I'm excited about it," she says.

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The Fabulous Four, also stars Bruce Greenwood and Timothy V. Murphy, is now in theaters.