celebrated turning 30 with a big reunion. sat down with her former co-stars , and Wendy Makkena, as well as music supervisor Marc Shaiman and music producer Mervyn Warren to look back at the making of the hit musical. Among the highlights, Ralph, who played the mother of Lauryn Hill’s character, reacted to her memorable quote from the film becoming a meme.
In the movie, Ralph sternly tells Hill that “singing does not put food on the table” and “does not pay the bills.” A viral video features clips from the scene, combined with footage of Ralph’s various musical performances throughout her career. When shown the video on , the current star howled laughing while watching the clip.
“In my mind, I was challenging my Jamaican mother,” she recalled about the inspiration for the scene. “When I told her I was going to be an actress, she [said], ‘You’re going to be an actress? Working with all those fake and phony people? On my hard-earned money? No! No!’ So in my mind during the scene I’m playing my mom.” Ralph also opened up about reuniting with her onscreen daughter at the Kaya Fest in 2018.
“It was so great to see Lauryn grow into the woman that she has become, overcoming and still holding on the way that she has,” said the actress. “She looked at me and she said, ‘Miss Ralph, thank you. I was so young.
I knew nothing but thank you, but you were wrong about The Fugees.” Hill’s remark was in reference to advice Ralph had given her on the set,.