Sheryl Lee Ralph narrates the one-hour special, The Real Red Tails. You can currently watch the documentary on both Disney+ and Hulu.

The Real Red Tails tells of the astonishing discovery of a P-39 airplane in Lake Huron, Michigan, reigniting a story lost to time and triggering one of the most important WWII archeological missions in the Great Lakes. On the morning of April 11, 1944, Tuskegee pilot 22-year-old Second Lieutenant Frank Moody perished in what should have been a routine training mission when his plane malfunctioned and took a nosedive into the chilly waters. With unprecedented access, the one-hour special, narrated by Sheryl Lee Ralph (Abbott Elementary), will take viewers on a journey to uncover the 80-year-old mystery of how and why Moody’s plane ultimately went down. The special enlists teams of underwater archaeologists to recover parts of the downed plane for the first time and weaves in firsthand accounts from fellow airmen along with underwater footage from the wreck to give a final answer to the mystery.

I had the chance to speak with the actress and discuss the importance of respecting the script, how she was affected by this story, the need for National Geographic, a time in her life when she realized the power of using her voice, and more. Keep reading for our conversation!

First of all, it’s such an honor to be speaking with you. I’m a big, big fan.
Sheryl Lee Ralph: Thank you. Thank you very much, I appreciate that. Fans are not to be taken for granted.

Can you tell me your approach to narrating a documentary like this? I imagine it’s a different ballgame than voice acting or live-action.
You know something, it is a difference, but the difference is, in all of these performances, you must respect the script. You must know the script, you must understand the beginning, the middle, and the end, what is it you want people to feel when they hear your voice tell this story? It’s like reading a long book with all of its different chapters. What is it you want people to feel and hear? I’m just very thankful that I was given the honor and the opportunity to tell Frank Moody’s Red Tail story.

You were the perfect choice. You have such a powerful voice. While narrating the documentary, how did you feel affected by the story?
In talking about it this morning, I think about the challenges faced by people of color over the centuries, since the arrival here in these United States. I think about these young men given these very challenging practice flights, working on planes that might not have been the absolute perfect thing, but it was what they were going to be testing. And the fact that for many of them over and over, they were the test pilot, they were the guinea pig, they were the one that had to show what could be done or what needed improvement. When Frank Moody went down, [on] April 11 in 1944, and those years to the date when his plane was unearthed, he was like, my spirit will rise again so that you will know and tell my story in a time when people are continuing to try to erase, negate, and ignore the contributions to American history by people of color, in this case, Black.

I’m a firm believer that TV can give really important messages and amazing takeaways. Why do you think documentaries like this one are always so powerful to watch in terms of educating the audience about history and stories that we are not familiar with? I mean, there’s so many different mediums, such as books and movies, but I do think there is something to be said about a documentary like this.
There is something to be said about National Geographic, [and] National Geographic continuing to dig into and unearth the difficult stories. I remember and I’m so thankful for the paper magazine that was, with that yellow border, National Geographic teaching me about Africa, telling me stories about starvation. I’ll never forget that and that now they are still around, still daring to unearth stories that need to be told. I love it and I’m so thankful for them for still being around ‘cause you know it’s hard to still be around in this age of technical advancements and such, it’s easy to disappear. It’s easy to not be able to keep up and I love the fact that they are keeping up, and look at the timing of this storytelling, at a time in cities and states across our country where people who know better are choosing to erase the storytelling, the history telling, the contributions of people of color, especially Black people.

Yeah, it really should be highlighted. The fact that National Geographic — like you said, I remember during my childhood, growing up and learning from them, so the fact that they are still here and so important still to this day, kudos to them. It’s a testament to their storytelling, just like you were saying.
Absolutely. We need people, organizations, and media like National Geographic to be there for us. All of us, not just some of us and that’s why this is important to me. That’s why I was so honored to have been given the opportunity to be the voice to tell Frank’s story.

I would love to bounce off of that and ask you how exactly you got involved. What were the experience and process like?
It’s so funny, you never know what it is and how it is what it is you do will be received by people, and I guess since my acceptance speeches, a lot of people have been hearing my voice, and they heard my voice and they said, “Whoa, that’s the voice we need to be a part of this project, to tell this story.” They literally reached out to my representatives and one thing led to another, and I was given the honor and the opportunity to tell this story.

I remember being seated at my house, cheering you on during your acceptance speech, so I know exactly what you mean. I remember that moment so vividly.
At that moment, I had no idea what I was going to say. I had no idea that I would be chosen. I honestly believed it was somebody else who was going to win that night. So when they called my name, I had to lean on what I knew, and that was both my singing voice and my speaking voice. That was it.

It was such a moment to watch and I’m glad that everyone is recognizing you the way you deserve. There’s so many aspects and parts of this special in terms of just the plane recovery, getting those pieces up, the firsthand accounts, and the underwater footage. Was there something that you were most curious and interested to see come to the screen?
It was so interesting to me how the planes were not — for whatever reason, some of the planes were not respected, kept, or held onto as pieces of history. I was at the National African American Museum of Art and Culture, part of the Smithsonian Museum there in Washington, D.C. and I would tell anybody to go visit that museum to understand in totality parts that you may not know anything about of American history. But I walked into a hall and I looked up, and there was a Red Tail plane and the story behind it was a man just found this plane. A man just found this plane, loved to fly, loved reconstruction planes, and found a plane. It was a government-issued plane and he gave them the VIN number, and they said, “What have you got?” He said, “Here’s the number.” They said, “That can’t be ‘cause we don’t have that,” and he said, “Well, I’ve got it and it’s right here.” They went, found this plane and it was an actual Red Tail plane, and you can see this plane for your own eyes. It was nothing that I expected it to be.

Wow, that is a really interesting story. I mean, I think about the museums I’ve visited and to see a piece of history like that in front of you must’ve been incredible.
It really was and having just narrated the documentary, I was like, “Oh my God.” I was like, “God, you are truly making me see and understand more than I thought I ever would.”

When you agree to do a project like this, when you get that honor and privilege of getting to tell a story like this that you know will educate people, why do you think it’s so important to use your platform in that respect? There are a lot of people that wouldn’t and I think it’s a testament to who you are and your platform that you want to be involved in something like this.
I think I follow in the footsteps of great oratories before me. I follow in the footsteps of a Paul Robeson, who said, “I want to use my voice to fight for freedom,” who said, “Artists are the gatekeepers of truth.” To Harry Belafonte, who carried on in that way, to any number of women’s voices that have been used to tell the truth, to fight for freedom, to enlighten people, to open their hearts to others, to stop being blinded by their own ism, especially racism. A voice is a terrible thing to waste and if you’ve got one, use it. That’s how I look at it.

I don’t think people realize just how much their voice can matter in certain circumstances. When was a time in your life that made you realize the power of your voice?
It was probably the sixth grade and this is, wow, it’s crazy the things you remember. It was in the sixth grade and nobody chose me to be on their team but I realized that there are other people who weren’t chosen either. So I put together my own team. I asked them, “Let’s join, we’ll make a team,” and we made a team and we won. We won everything and it was really interesting that I had to make friends with somebody that nobody liked because they were seen as just being mean, and she and I made friends and we won. I think about that often, yeah. I’d forgotten about it.