Abbott Elementary's Larry Owens recites Sheryl Lee Ralph's Sister Act 2 monologue to her face

One of Emmy-winner Sheryl Lee Ralph's most famous roles is still Sister Act 2's Florence Watson, the disapproving mother of Lauryn Hill's Rita Watson, a talented teenage girl who just wants to sing, mama!

But not under Florence Watson's roof! Ralph's anti-singing speech to her daughter gutted poor Rita, and audiences, when the sequel to the surprise blockbuster first hit theaters in 1993, and it still packs a punch 30 years later — even with Ralph on the receiving end of it.

The veteran actress (and, yes, singer) got the business on TikTok from her Abbott Elementary costar Larry Owens, who plays nerdy history teacher Jacob's (Chris Perfetti) equally nerdy boyfriend Zach, as he recited the iconic monologue to Ralph's playfully stunned face.

"Singing does not put food on the table. Singing does not pay the bills," Owens begins. "Your father was a singer and now where is he? Out on the street with those other people singing their shoulda, coulda, woulda's."

Ralph is impressed. But Owens is, respectfully, a bit off.

See, Rita's father died pursuing his dream of singing, which kinda explains why Florence doesn't want her only daughter following in his footsteps.

After noting how singing doesn't pay the bills, Florence tells Rita, "Singing is no guarantee to a future, even if you have got talent." When Rita protests that she can indeed sing (this being a young pre-Fugees Lauryn Hill) Florence responds, "So could your daddy and he died still trying to make it."

Despite Rita's protestations, Florence forbids her from singing in the choir, but Rita, being a rebellious teen with a dream, does anyway. Luckily, Lauryn Hill's pipes were already paying everybody's bills and after seeing her and Sister Mary Clarence's (Whoopi) kids turn it out to a very '90s rendition of "Joyful, Joyful," Florence admits that she is "very proud" of Rita.

Of course, that's a lot of exposition to fit into a TikTok but we're always here for a Sister Act 2 reference and its treasure trove of life lessons, chief among them: If you wanna be somebody, if you wanna go somewhere, you better wake up and paaaaaaaay attention.

Now, let's just hope that Whoopi gets her Sister Act 3 wish, so we can finally find out whatever happened to Rita and Florence! Did Rita make it? Did she help found a seminal rap group then release one of the greatest albums of all time?

For hers and Florence's sake, there better be food on that table.

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