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BY Francis Akhalbey, 7:00am February 10, 2026,

Ryan Toby reveals he ‘fell in love’ with Lauryn Hill while on set for ‘Sister Act 2’

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by Francis Akhalbey, 7:00am February 10, 2026,
Left photo credit: Ryan Toby/Facebook | Right photo credit: Lisa Liang

Musician and actor Ryan Toby recently revealed that he “fell in love” with Lauryn Hill while they were on set for Sister Act 2. But the 49-year-old couldn’t make a move because she was reportedly dating Omar Epps at the time.

Released in 1993, Toby and Hill, 50, co-starred in Sister Act 2. Toby opened up about having a crush on the Fugees member during an appearance on The R&B Money Podcast.

“I got the call that they wanted me in the movie and we flew out to LA. Met a young Lauryn Hill. We hit it off because we was the only two kids from Jersey,” Toby recalled, per PEOPLE.

“Me, her and Jennifer Love Hewitt were the only real high school students in the cast. Everybody else older, everybody else was grown. So we would all go to tutoring and stuff like that.”

Toby also said that at the time, Hill “stayed in the apartment right below me, I think.”

“I fell in love with her, Lauryn Hill, over at the Oakwoods, boy. Man, I had a crush on her,” he disclosed.

READ ALSO: ‘We were up all night’ – How Maggie Smith supported Whoopi emotionally till a decision was made to take her mom off life support

But Toby, who later became a member of the R&B group City High, ultimately got to know that Hill was dating another actor at the time. 

“You know what broke my heart? Her real dude came to visit one day. You know who it was? Omar Epps,” he said.

Toby, on a lighter note, also said, “I ain’t gonna lie, that s–t still hurts. I wasn’t developed… I garnered a lot of respect for him that day and just understood like okay, you gotta take what you want in this world.”

During a 2024 interview with PEOPLE, Toby opened up on some of his memories while on set for the movie

“Deondray [Gossfield] was reminding me of something that I really don’t remember, but he was like, ‘Do you remember when you, me and Lauryn [Hill] took Lauryn’s car and were driving around in the Hollywood Hills playing Ding-Dong Ditch? Going to people’s houses, ringing the door, daring each other to ring the doorbell and running off?'” he recalled.

“We were kids,” he added. “We were just goofy kids, bored on Friday night. We couldn’t go to the club or anything like that, so we were just doing what goofy kids would do.”

READ ALSO: Whoopi Goldberg speaks on changes made to ‘Sister Act 3’ after Maggie Smith’s death

Last Edited by:Francis Akhalbey Updated: February 10, 2026

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