Lisa Ann Walter doesn’t actually know what is in store for Melissa on season 4 of Abbott Elementary — but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have some guesses. “I wish I knew! If I said I knew what they were talking about in the writers’ room right now as we sit here I’d be lying,” Walter, 60, exclusively told Us Weekly while promoting her partnership with Centrum Menopause Support. Walter noted that creator — and star — Quinta Brunson loves to keep her costars in the dark until the scripts are ready , adding, “Quinta plays it so close to the chest.
Every once in a while she’ll come up like when we’re at a For Your Consideration event [to say], ‘You are gonna be so excited about this story line for your character. Oh wait, I’m not gonna tell.'” Abbott Elementary , which debuted in 2021, follows teachers at a fictional Black Philadelphia public school .
Fans saw more of Walter’s character, Melissa, outside of work when Janine (Brunson) and Jacob ( Chris Perfetti ) visited her at home. Melissa’s personal life was also explored after she found love with the school’s vending machine guy Gary ( Bruno Amato ). Melissa and Gary called it quits during season 3 after he proposed with help from Philadelphia Eagles player Jalen Hurts .
(Hurts’ fellow football players Jason Kelce and Brandon Graham also made a cameo in the February episode.) Walter previously opened up about how honored she felt by Kelce’s onscreen appearance , telling Us in June, “.