NEW YORK − Sherri Shepherd stars in the new Netflix thriller “Straw” and the actress remembers a few times when she was at her last straw. In both instances, she was going through a divorce.
“I was coming in my driveway and somebody ran up to me,” Shepherd, 58, recalls. “I was like, ‘Hi.’ He’s like, ‘You’re being served.’ Then I remember I was at the Essence Festival and somebody came up right before I was supposed to go on stage: ‘You’re being served.’ “
Shepherd was married to actor Jeff Tarpley from 2001 to 2010. In 2011, she wed screenwriter Lamar Sally. They divorced in 2015.
“I was in arbitration going through a divorce and (the lawyers) were just coming at me: ‘You have to pay this amount,’ ” she says. “I was just like, ‘I don’t have it. I’m not working. I’ve been let go from ‘The View.’ I’m unemployed.’ “
Shepherd refers to herself as “spiritual” but not “religious.” Distraught over the proceedings, Shepperd excused herself to use the restroom. In that moment, prayer helped her get through.
“A legal secretary put her hand on my shoulder,” she says, noting that she began to feel calm. “She started praying. So for me, you touch me and you start praying, I stop whatever I’m doing.”
Shepherd plays a calming presence in “Straw,” directed and written by Tyler Perry. In the film, Janiyah (Taraji P. Henson) is a single mother dealing with one traumatic event after another, until she finds herself in the middle of a bank robbery. Detective Raymond (Teyana Taylor) can relate to Janiyah’s stress in more than one way as she attempts to diffuse the situation. Nicole (Shepherd) is the branch manager of the bank. As she comes to realize Janiyah’s struggles, Nicole forms a bond with her that lasts right until the film’s finish.
“Sisterhood is strong,” Shepherd says of the characters’ bond. The two “connected through motherhood, that thing that women have, and (Nicole) just wanted to help (Janiyah) win.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Sherri Shepherd reveals why she cried in court after ‘The View’ exit
