Janelle James talks about ‘Abbott Elementary' recruitment

Janelle James just discussed she has seen multiple young actors showcase their talents on Abbott Elementary, with the series being five seasons in.

The Golden Globe nominee explained that there aren't "a lot of dark-skinned Black kids" with agents, which made it difficult to cast the ABC sitcom, set in a Black elementary school in Philadelphia.

"If I remember, in our early seasons, they had to go find kids," she said on Vulture's Good One podcast.

"Acting, especially as a kid, is a very expensive thing. You have to have a parent that is free to take you around and do auditions and stuff. And that doesn't really exist in the Black community,” The Standups star added.

James continued, "So, we had to go find them. A lot of them aren't professional actors. Now they are, because a lot of them have grown up with the show, and I think that's amazing. But a lot of them had never been on a set or anything before. I mean, we were learning together, is how I felt."

The actress, who plays Principal Ava, previously raved to Deadline that the Quinta Brunson-created show's Season 5 renewal is "amazing at a time of shows going to three seasons and then sometimes without even a real ending."

"The fact that we're trucking along and the fact that we, especially Quinta, have done this through so many different calamities that people don't think about it. You shouldn't think about it, because you're just being entertained, but we've done this show through the pandemic, strikes, fires in LA, personal strife," explained Janelle James.

"I think the show keeps getting better,” she concluded.