Sherri Shepherd Recalls Losing Roles To Queen Latifah, And How A Prayer Changed Her Luck

Long before she became a daytime TV queen herself, Sherri Shepherd was just another rising comedian trying to make her mark in the 1990s. Back then, auditions were a regular part of her hustle, and she often found herself going toe-to-toe with other hilarious women like Niecy Nash, Retta, and Michelle Buteau. But there was one name that seemed to pop up every time she lost a role – Queen Latifah.

“There was one [role] that I wanted so bad,” Sherri recently shared on the PEOPLE in the ’90s podcast. “I lost out to Queen Latifah. It was for The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.”

The role was simple enough — just a girl who listened to music and danced. So Sherri showed up ready. She brought a Walkman, popped in her headphones, and started dancing with her back to the casting director.

“I can’t even hear what the lady’s saying,” she said with a laugh. “I’m just dancing. You wonder why I didn’t get that role.”

But that wasn’t the last time she and Queen Latifah were up for the same part.

Years later, a role on Everybody Loves Raymond came along — Sergeant Judy. “That role… was written for Queen Latifah,” Sherri revealed. 

However, when Latifah got busy filming the movie Living Out Loud, the producers opened auditions to others. Sherri, who didn’t even have a car at the time, hopped on a bus to Warner Bros. for her shot.

She nailed the first audition and got a callback. That’s when she found out she was only there because Latifah might not be available.

Knowing she needed that job desperately, Sherri turned to prayer. “I didn’t want her to break her leg,” she joked. “I said, ‘Lord, bless her to book that movie because I need this job. I need it bad’”

Her prayer worked. Latifah booked the movie, and Sherri got the role.

“I was so excited,” she remembered, “because Ray Romano and [series creator] Phil Rosenthal took me out to a sushi restaurant.”

“I never even had sushi. I didn’t know how to eat it. I had these two wooden things,” she added.

Eventually, the two finally shared the screen in the 2005 comedy Beauty Shop. Latifah played the lead, hairstylist Gina Norris, while Sherri played Ida, one of her stylists. During filming, Sherri casually mentioned that the Everybody Loves Raymond role had originally been written for Latifah.

Both women eventually found their lanes in daytime television. Sherri began on The View in 2007 and after a break, returned with her own show, Sherri, in 2022. On the other hand, Queen Latifah had her talk show twice — first from 1999 to 2001, and then again from 2013 to 2015.