Five questions with Sherri Shepherd

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Sherri Shepherd (center, with Ryan Michelle Bathe and Katherine Heigl) altered her wardrobe to play Lula, a hooker who becomes a bounty hunter, in “One for the Money.”

Updated: February 23, 2012 8:06AM

During her youth in Hoffman Estates, a “wrap” wasn’t exactly a movie term for Sherri Shepherd.

“Girl, I worked at Sears in the Woodfield Mall as a gift wrapper,” says the actress and TV host. “I’m actually a great gift wrapper, and the customers were so nice to me. I was only 16, and eventually Sears put me in customer service because I was so friendly.”

The Sears bosses knew what they were doing.

“I always loved the people, but if they wanted to return stuff, I’d talk them into keeping it,” she says with a laugh, calling from her dressing room on the set of “The View.”

Shepherd grew up outside of Chicago as the eldest of three sisters who graduated from Hoffman Estates High School. She was working as a legal secretary while doing stand-up at night. After recurring roles on “Everybody Loves Raymond” and “Living Single,” she starred in “Less than Perfect” and “Sherri.” Then she joined “The View” in 2007.

On screen, she received raves for “Precious” and next plays hooker-turned-bounty-hunter Lula in “One for the Money,” based on Janet Evanovich’s best seller and opening Friday.

1 What was it like to nab
the role?

It was very exciting for me. I’m a big fan of Janet Evanovich. She has 18 of these Stephanie Plum books out. When I read them for the first time, I put a book cover on my vision board and said, “Lord, if this ever becomes a movie, please let me get a role.” The interesting thing is these books have such hardcore fans and their blog sites are packed with who should play the characters in the movie. For my character, I read Queen Latifah or Niecy Nash or Sherri Shepherd. I knew people were rooting for me, so that felt good. Then one day I was on Twitter and I read they were having auditions for “One for the Money.” So, I put on a miniskirt and got to work.

2 The word is you stunned Barbara Walters with your getup. What was the audition like?

I love that Lula is a hooker with a heart of gold who becomes a bounty hunter. She’s in 17 of 18 of the books. For the audition, I did put on my shortest miniskirt and an electric blue tube top. I think it was Elisabeth Hasselbeck’s tube top. I also put on my highest hooker heels. I put on this getup in my dressing room at “The View” and added a long Rapunzel wig. When I went into the hallway, I ran smack into Barbara Walters. Barbara sees me and says, “Sherri, where in the world are you going?” I said, “Barbara, I’m going to be a hooker!” Then when I got to the audition, the same production company was also trying out little boys for another movie. So, here I am in that outfit with my boobies falling out looking like a hooker. Some kid is like, “Isn’t she on ‘The View,’ Mommy?’ ”

3 What was it like to work with Katherine Heigl, who plays Stephanie Plum?

She was so great. The first day we were working together, she was trying to get off cigarettes, so she was smoking one of those electronic cigarettes, which was funny. Otherwise, she was just so sweet to me and invited me into her trailer, where we talked about cheating men, boyfriends, husbands and babies. It was all girl talk, and we had the best time. I want to do it again.

4 Have you ever gone back to a reunion at Hoffman Estates High?

I did, and the funny thing is I was the nerdy girl in high school. So I go back to my reunion a few years ago, and the strange thing was everyone was back in their cliques from when we were teenagers. I gravitated right back to the nerds and dorks, who were still wonderful people. And then there was this one cheerleader who was so snotty to me at the reunion in exactly the same way she was snotty in high school! She had been through a few marriages by now and was chain-smoking and drinking at the reunion. Still, she came up to tell me, “People say you’re on television, but I’ve never seen you.” Then she walked away. All the nerds and dorks looked at each other said in unison, “B----!” Then we fell out laughing.

5 What did it say about you in your high school yearbook?

The funny thing is in my high school yearbook, it said, “Sherri is most likely to either be famous or marry Michael Jackson.” The famous part came from the fact that I tried hard to be funny. We moved to Hoffman Estates when “Roots” was airing on TV. There weren’t a lot of black people in that town, and my humor took me through stuff. Now, I still talk to all my friends from Hoffman Estates who knew me when I was a legal secretary doing stand-up at night and whisper, “I’m in Nicolas Cage’s dressing room and his clothes smell great.”

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