ABBOT ELEMENTARY Star’s Son Calls New Acting Role ‘An Answered Prayer’

Published: December 12, 2024

ABBOT ELEMENTARY Star’s Son Calls New Acting Role ‘An Answered Prayer’

Movieguide® Contributor

ABBOT ELEMENTARY star Sheryl Lee Ralph’s son, Etienne Maurice, didn’t ask for any help from his mom when he decided to become an actor.

But he almost gave up before God showed him that he had “a lot more to do.”

“I’ve always wanted to create my own path,” Maurice said about his acting career. “At the end of the day, my mom is not walking me into auditions. She didn’t get me a manager; she didn’t get me an agent.”

“This is all things that I did on my own and because I chose to go in this direction. I didn’t even tell my mom that I was doing this until after I wrapped,” he said. “It’s just a blessing that my mom is at the point in her career where she could further support and tell everybody that her son is in a Christmas movie on OWN and Max.”

Maurice almost gave up acting before he landed a role in OWN’s MISTLETOE & MATRIMONY.

“I was going to give up,” said Maurice, who founded wellness organization WalkGood LA, tells PEOPLE. “If being a community activist and a wellness philanthropist was going to be my life, I would’ve been completely fine. But when I got called to play this role, it was like an answered prayer. In many ways, God was telling me, ‘You have a lot more to do.’”

In the movie, Maurice performs as a photographer his ex’s sister hired for her Christmas wedding.

The synopsis reads: “MISTLETOE & MATRIMONY follows the story of Olivia Morris (Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut), a detail-oriented wedding planner who faces a whirlwind of emotions when tasked with organizing her free-spirited sister’s Christmas Eve wedding. The situation grows more complicated when her ex-boyfriend, Isaiah (Etienne Maurice), returns from overseas to assist with the arrangements. As sparks fly and family dynamics shift, Olivia is forced to reconsider her outlook on love and life — just in time for the holidays.”

Maurice says his character “is literally me” because of his commitment to art and community,” PEOPLE reported. “And then on top of that, Isaiah is inspired by the grief of his grandmother who passed away, and my grandmother inspired me to be the best person I can be.”

He is “so thankful” for the part “because now I get to show the world what I’m capable of as an artist and as an actor,” he said. “It’s really beautiful that I’m getting a chance to live my life’s purpose as a creator. And the fact that I’m able to use my platform with my organization and be able to highlight this movie that I was in amplifies my mission in providing equitable healing spaces for my community through the arts and wellness. It fits into my life’s mission.”

He has high hopes for his career and confidence that he’ll be acting in more holiday movies enjoyed by families for years to come.

“I’m living my dream,” he told ABC News. “Just the fact that I’m here in front of you right now being able to talk about my movie is a dream come true.”

“[I hope that] watching a movie that I’m leading in” will be a Christmas tradition. “I pray that that’s going to be a tradition in years to come, that I could continue to watch films that I’m in with my family,” he said.

He recalls that growing up, his mom was “very adamant” about decorating for Christmas.

“Once I got older and I stopped hanging around the house as much and I wasn’t helping her with the decorations, she stopped that tradition,” Maurice says. “Now I just bring the poinsettias to the house and I put them in different parts of her home — that’s my contribution to the Christmas decorations in the house.”

He also contributes to cooking their favorite Christmas meal and recipes from his grandmother.

“It was like the best lemon iced tea that you had ever tried in your life,” he recalled. “She was really an exceptional cook, so I do miss her cooking during the holidays. Last year I made my own oxtail and it was really, really good. Ever since I got engaged, I’ve been really trying cooking and from my wife’s opinion, she says I’m a really good cook, so I’m trying to keep the tradition alive.”

Maurice married ABC News journalist Stephanie Walsh this year, in Jamaica.

“Right after we wrapped MISTLETOE & MATRIMONY, I went straight to Jamaica to then be notified that I was flying straight into a hurricane,” Maurice recalls. “I landed on a Monday, they told me the hurricane was coming on Wednesday and we were getting married on Saturday. We didn’t know if we were going to have the wedding until that Friday morning. They opened up the island and 275 showed up with 315 people [who] were supposed to be attending.”

Though it was a “headache,” he says “It was a blessing because it taught me a lot about my fate and to have faith. It was the scariest, but also the most liberating experience I’ve ever had in my life.”

Looking back on his new movie and his marriage, he sees many “parallels.”

“Different circumstances, but definitely high stakes,” he said, adding that “a lot of love” went into the movie.

“I am grateful that the wedding happened,” he continues. “It is very good given the circumstances. But I feel like shooting this movie really prepared me to get married with all the ups and downs; it was preparation for what was to come. I think this is one of the best Christmas films to come out this season.”