Sheryl Lee Ralph expects her friends and family to be double-fisted when they see her in December. Her birthday, December 30, falls in the middle of the holiday season. But that doesn’t mean yes Abbott Elementary School the star should only get one gift.
“No, I’m giving you two gifts. You gave me two gifts,” the theater veteran tells PEOPLE at the Out100 party on Dec. 11. “Now, if I haven’t given you anything, fine, but you give me my two gifts. Thanks.”
Fortunately, Ralph’s inner circle is well aware of the requirement for two gifts.
“I was very lucky,” says the actress. “I speak honestly with my friends and family. Don’t give me a gift by talking about it it’s just one gift“, she mocks.
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Sheryl Lee Ralph and her son Etienne Maurice; daughter, Ivy-Victoria Maurice and husband Senator Vincent Hughes attend the 27th Annual DIVAS Simply Singing Sheryl Lee Ralph.
Robin L Marshall/Getty
She adds, “Celebrate me.”
This year, Ralph turns 68, but he has no big plans to mark the occasion.
“I’m going to relax. I will be silent. I will enjoy it,” she says. “I will go for a massage every other day. I’m going to the spa. I’m going to lie down.”
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Ralph had a busy year. In July, she starred alongside Bette Midler, Susan Sarandon and Megan Mullally The Fantastic Four. That same month, she was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role as Barbara Howard in Abbott Elementary School. In October, she received GLSEN’s Champion Award. Ralph was recently appointed Advocatelawyer of the year.
As Ralph looks to 2025, he hopes for a kinder and safer world.
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“I pray for peace on earth. I pray that wars and rumors of wars will be silenced. I am asking for love,” she says. “I pray for people to be freed from or softened by the -isms they seem to want to lean on in this era. This is not the time for all that. I look at decades of my life and see, for whatever reason, how much hate I’ve seen. I pray for something better for everyone.”
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Sheryl Lee Ralph and husband Vincent Hughes at the premiere of ‘Abbott Elementary’ on December 4, 2021 in Burbank, California.
MICHAEL TRAN/AFP via Getty
The Emmy winner is also looking forward to a significant wedding anniversary with her husband Vincent Hughes. On July 30, 2025, Ralph and the Pennsylvania State Senator will celebrate 20 years of marriage.
“Well, his state is Pennsylvania, his city is Philadelphia. Maybe [we’ll celebrate] in the courtyard of City Hall or on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. That would be wonderful,” Ralph previously told PEOPLE. “I don’t know, but it will be fantastic.”
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Source: HIS Education