Etienne Maurice keeps his career moves under wraps, even mom Sheryl Lee Ralph doesn’t know what he’s up to!
At the 25th annual Newport Beach Film Festival on Sunday, October 20, the film Abbott Elementary School the actress, who was honored with an Artist of Distinction award, revealed that Maurice had not informed her of his starring role in Mistletoe and marriage.
“He was taking it from me,” Ralph, 67, told PEOPLE about the important gig. “He didn’t even let me know he was doing it.”
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Speaking about Maurice, 32, and his wife Stephanie Wash, who tied the knot in July, she continued: “They got married, went on their honeymoon. The next thing I know, he was on set shooting a movie.”
Ralph also said she “didn’t give him any advice” partly because she didn’t even know it was happening, but clarified that she wasn’t mad at him.
Etienne Maurice and Sheryl Lee Ralph.
Steve Granitz/FilmMagic
“I’m very, very proud,” she said of Maurice. “I love it when my kids decide to take a chance on their own.”
Set to debut on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) on December 14, Mistletoe and marriage follows the love story of Isaiah Howes (Maurice) and Olivia Morris (Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut), according to IMDB.
“A wedding planner tries to plan her sister’s last-minute wedding on Christmas Eve when her ex-fiancé unexpectedly arrives, adding chaos to the festive occasion,” reads the official synopsis.
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Maurice hasn’t said much about the upcoming film, but he did debut the film’s official poster, featuring him and Chestnut back-to-back, on his Instagram earlier this month.
He also shared a video of himself speaking ahead of the PEOPLE story, exclusively revealing the OWN for the Holidays lineup, which includes Mistletoe and marriage.
“I’m just grateful here, so grateful. I don’t even know what to say,” he said in the clip, later revealing that he was “really going to give up acting” before the film came out.
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Ashley Sharpe Chestnut and Etienne Maurice in ‘Mistletoe and Marriage’.
OWN
Also at the Newport Beach Film Festival, Ralph spoke about how she felt being honored – and revealed how “proud” she is of both Maurice and her daughter Ivy Coco, who she shares with ex-husband Eric Maurice.
“I’m very happy about that because I tell people all the time, my career has been based on the choices I’ve made, the roles I’ve chosen to do, the things I’ve chosen to write, the understanding that I didn’t just fall out of the coconut tree, and there’s so much more in the world of that,” she told PEOPLE for the Artist of Distinction award.
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“And I’m very happy that my children will now look and say, ‘Yes, that’s my mother,'” she continued. “My parents are up in heaven looking down and saying, ‘Yes, my daughter makes me proud.’ And my community, when they see my name on the project, say, ‘I want to see that.’ So I’m very proud and very honored and delighted.”
Ralph also noted that Mistletoe and marriage and Maurice’s other work is a continuation of what she has built, adding, “I’m very proud of it because it’s all part of the legacy.”
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Mistletoe and marriage will premiere Saturday, December 14 on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN).
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Source: HIS Education