Janelle James is perhaps best known for her role as Principal Ava Coleman on Hulu’s hit TV series Abbott Elementary. The comedy follows a group of teachers at a Philadelphia public school as they manage having too many students on too low a budget.

Ava’s character is often seen as the comic relief, especially in the early seasons of the show. In the most recent season, however, we learn more about Ava’s backstory and get to dig a little deeper into her character, including a budding romance and the introduction of her father. Now, Janelle has spoken out about the challenge behind delivering more emotional moments on the show.

Ava Says Her Scene Partner Pushed Her To Get Serious

Viewers of the show will know that much of Ava’s Season 4 backstory deals with her relationship with her father, portrayed by seasoned actor Keith David. We learn that Ava has a complicated relationship with her father, feeling abandoned by him and then struggling when she realizes how closeby he lives after being out of her life for years.

In a conversation with LAist, Janelle explained that Keith’s vast acting experience encouraged her to bring her own intensity to their scenes:

“To show that I can do that switch up, which I’ve been doing in comedy forever. ‘Oh, it — what a sad moment. … Hi! Here’s a laugh!’ So that was super enjoyable for me,” she added.

Her Standup Background Helped Her Out

Prior to appearing in Abbott Elementary, Janelle also had a successful standup career—experience which she noted was helpful in some of the complex emotional moments of Season 4. In the aforementioned conversation, Janelle explained how much of her comedy experience was about taking sad content and finding ways to make people laugh.

When it came to acting, she pointed out the similarities, particularly how she aimed to make people laugh in moments when they weren’t expecting to:

It seems like art was imitating life a bit, as well. Ava’s Season 4 arc sees her trying to repair her relationship with her estranged father, at first skeptical of his attempts at reconnecting, but eventually softening. Janelle was candid about her relationship with her own late father, noting that it was a major influence when she was first getting started in comedy.

“My first year of comedy — talk about tears behind the laughter — was all about my dad dying. My dad was sick and it was all about him and how I felt about that, very morose. But for me to be like, ‘My dad is dying,’ and then everybody’s like, ‘Bahahahah’… I was like ‘Wow! The power!'”

It seems that Janelle is definitely doing something right with the role of Principal Ava—currently, she is a four-time Emmy nominee for the category of supporting actress in a comedy series. No doubt her more dramatic scenes will only stand to bolster her chances at snagging the award.

Lovers of the show will be happy to know that it will be back soon with a new batch of episodes. Earlier this year, it was announced that Abbott Elementary was officially renewed for a fifth season by Hulu. As of this article’s writing, it is set to premiere on October 1st, meaning fans only have a few more months to wait before school is back in session.