With no less than three Emmy nominations underQuinta Brunson’s belt for her breakout hitAbbott Elementary, the sitcom’s creator and star only finds delight in her less-than-glamorous start on screen.
In 2018,New Girlwas in its last season, and Brunson, who was gaining notice in Hollywood thanks in part to her viral seriesGirl Who Has Never Been on a Nice Date, had met withNew Girlcreator Liz Meriwether “about developing something, but I hadn’t really got a formal acting job yet,” she recalls. “She cast me for that small role.”
“She was like, ‘I feel like this is so small. Do you want to do this?’ I was like, ‘I don’t care. I love this show,'” says Brunson, 32. “It was the final season. I didn’t care how small it was. I wanted to do it. It was exciting because I was just such a huge fan of that show.”
Chrisean Rose
Brunson would continue to make waves in the HBO sketch seriesA Black Lady Sketch Showbefore creating ABC’s mockumentary-style workplace comedyAbbott Elementary, in which she plays Janine Teagues, a can-do teacher operating in an underfunded Philadelphia primary school.
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The freshman series has proved to be a hit with fans and critics alike, andAbbott Elementaryhas since scoredthree Emmy nominations, including an acting nod for Brunson and outstanding comedy series, setting a new single-year record for a Black woman in comedy Emmy categories.
Withseason 2 ofAbbottnow underway (with an expanded 22 episodes, up from the first season’s 13) and an overall deal inked with Warner Bros. Television Group, Brunson reflects on how her life has changed in the last year.
“It’s changed in that I am kind of forced to realize what I’m capable of, which sounds weird,” she says. “[And] to reckon with, “Ok, I guess if I do dream something, there’s a chance I might accomplish it.”
“I was like, I should have good dreams because they might come true so I should really focus on making them positive.”
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Abbott Elementaryreturns Sept. 21 on ABC.
source: people.com
