The Cast of 'Abbott Elementary' in Real Life
This stellar sitcom ensemble deserves all the roses
Abbott Elementary is a mockumentary series on ABC created by and starring Quinta Brunson as Janine Teagues, the driven and optimistic teacher of a an underfunded school in Philadelphia. It has aired two great seasons and has already been renewed for a third, and fans keep coming back because of the sharp writing and hilarious ensemble cast. Every cast member is a heavy hitter here, from the Principal to the Sub to the Janitor. Check out the cast of Abbott Elementary both on-and-off camera.
Quinta Brunson as Janine Teagues
Brunson's character wants to do as much as she can for her second grade students and occasionally ruffles the feathers of coworkers, but everyone can see her good heart and pure intentions through it all. This character could have had some inspiration from the show and school's namesake, Ms. Joyce Abbott, who was Brunson's sixth grade teacher.
Quinta Brunson IRL
Brunson at the 2022 Dunkin Donuts Thanksgiving Day Parade in Philadelphia. She gained a following through creating and appearing in online shows for Buzzfeed. Aside from the incredible Abbott, Brunson has acted in Miracle Workers, iZombie and Single Parents.
Her script for Abbott Elementary's pilot episode won Brunson the Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series Award in 2022.
Tyler James Williams as Gregory Eddie
Williams played a new substitute first grade teacher in the show's first season and (spoiler alert), he eventually gets hired full-time. In a mockumentary, you need a character who can deliver deadpan reaction looks to camera, and Gregory does that beautifully.
Tyler James Williams IRL
Williams has earned acclaim and new fans with this role, but he has been working for years as a child actor in shows like Everybody Hates Chris and a few episodes of Saturday Night Live.
Janelle James as Ava Coleman
James plays Ava Coleman, the ridiculously incompetent principal of the school. You could call her this series' Michael Scott, but James puts her own spin on the goofy and unskilled manager role.
Janelle James IRL (2019)
James performing stand-up comedy on Late Night with Seth Meyers. Along with her acting chops, she's a veteran comedian who has performed on Netflix and at the prestigious Just for Laughs festival in Montreal. She has also been a staff writer for excellent TV shows like Black Monday and Corporate.
Sheryl Lee Ralph as Barbara Howard
Ralph's character Barbara Howard is a Kindergarten teacher that Janine admires. In one of the funniest season one cold opens, Barbara encounters a grown-up student who gushes about how she meant so much to him, then tells Janine she had no idea who he was after leaving the conversations.
Sheryl Lee Ralph IRL (1989)
Ralph with Eddie Murphy at the 16th Annual American Music Awards. Her work in Abbott is wonderful, but Ralph is well-known actress and singer prior with a huge resume prior that. Ralph is responsible for landmark performances like originating the role of Deena jones in the Broadway show Dreamgirls, which earned her a Tony Award Nomination in 1981.
Lisa Ann Walter as Melissa Schemmenti
Walter plays the gruff and sarcastic second grade teacher Melissa Schemmenti, a South Philly native with funny neighborhood connections.
Lisa Ann Watler IRL (2011)
Walter posing with her essay collection called The Best Thing About My Ass Is That It's Behind Me. One of her best known roles before Abbott was when she played Chessy in The Parent Trap, and she even co-created and starred in her own short-lived ABC sitcom Life's Workin 1996.
Chris Perfetti as Jacob Hill
Perfetti's character Jacob Hill is a slightly awkward but very well-meaning history teacher. He usually gets behind Janine's schemes for improving the school no matter how wild they become.
Chris Perfetti IRL
Abbott is Perfetti's first main role on a series, but he has worked a whole lot before that in plays, films and shows as well. He was a guest star on the HBO series Looking, appeared in Sons of the Prophet by the playwright Stephen Karam, and was one of the main characters in the drama film Surrogate in 2020.
William Stanford Davis as Mr. Johnson
Davis was a stroke of genius casting choice as the slightly bizarre but undoubtedly skilled janitor of the school, Mr. Johnson. A gag of him having to briefly take over a social studies class in the show's pilot was one of the funniest moments of the episode
William Stanford Davis IRL
Davis is a TV veteran with over 100 credits in different series and TV movies, as well as stage experience as a comic and even a musician. You may recognize him from his role as Potato Pie in Ray Donovan. He directed a short film, I'm Sorry Samantha, in 2014.
Jacob is a Temporary Partnerships Editor at Hearst based in Queens, New York with his partner and cat Tiger. He loves learning and writing about Film and TV, Video Games, and the weird histories of unexpected subjects.
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