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Danielle Brooks
Danielle Brooks 2014.jpg
Brooks in 2014
Born
Danielle Brittany Brooks

(1989-09-17) September 17, 1989 (age 34)
Alma mater Juilliard School (BFA)
Occupation Actress
Years active 2009–present
Spouse(s)
Dennis Gelin
(m. 2022)
Children 1

Danielle Brittany Brooks (born September 17, 1989) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Tasha "Taystee" Jefferson on the comedy-drama series Orange Is the New Black (2013–2019) and Leota Adebayo on the superhero series Peacemaker (2022–present). In 2015, she made her Broadway debut in the musical revival of The Color Purple, for which she received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical and won the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. She returned to Broadway in the revival of the August Wilson play The Piano Lesson in 2022.

Brooks also appeared in the HBO series Girls (2014), Netflix's Master of None (2015–17), and the animated sitcom Close Enough (2020–22). In 2021, she received an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Television Movie as an executive producer on Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia.

Early life and education

Brooks was born in Augusta, Georgia, and grew up in South Carolina, in a Christian family; her father was a deacon, and her mother, a minister. She began acting at the age of six in a nativity play put on by her church. For her final two years of high school, she attended South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts & Humanities, a selective arts high school. She studied drama at the Juilliard School and graduated in 2011.

Career

After graduating from Juilliard, Brooks won roles in two theater productions: the Shakespeare Theatre Company's Servant of Two Masters, and Blacken the Bubble. She left both productions in 2013 to join the cast of the Netflix-produced television series Orange Is the New Black, a show about a women's prison, based on Piper Kerman's memoir of the same name. Brooks played as Tasha "Taystee" Jefferson. Her character originally was intended to be featured in the show for only two episodes, but was written into the rest of the first season and subsequent seasons. Taystee's onscreen best friend Poussey is played by Samira Wiley, with whom Brooks has been friends since they met while studying together at Juilliard. Brooks' performance on the show has been favorably reviewed by TV critics, with one writer calling her "the breakout actress of the show and one of the most refreshing and exciting new talents of 2013." Brooks was upgraded from a recurring cast member to a series regular for the show's second season. She competed against co-star Uzo Aduba in an episode of Spike's Lip Sync Battle that aired on June 28, 2017. Brooks won with performances of Ciara's "1, 2 Step" and Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer".

In September 2013, Brooks was cast in a third season episode of the HBO series Girls, becoming the first African-American actress on the show.

Brooks made her Broadway debut in the 2015 revival of The Color Purple as Sofia. The musical opened on December 10, 2015, at the Bernard B. Jacobs. Brooks received good notices for her performance, and received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. In June 2019, she played Beatrice in The Public Theater's production of Much Ado About Nothing, receiving a Drama League Award nomination for her performance.

In 2022, Brooks co-starred in James Gunn's Peacemaker television series alongside actor John Cena, playing the role of Leota Adebayo. The series is spin-off of Gunn's 2021 film The Suicide Squad, and is the first television series to be included in the DCEU. In an 2022 interview, Brooks revealed that Gunn was a big fan of the Netflix hit show Orange is the New Black, and wrote the part of Adebayo with her in mind.

It was announced that Brooks would star in a Broadway revival of August Wilson's The Piano Lesson starting on September 19, 2022 alongside Samuel L. Jackson and John David Washington and directed by LaTanya Richardson Jackson. She will also appear in The Color Purple, a feature adaptation of the musical of the same name, directed by Blitz Bazawule.

From 2021 to 2022, Brooks voiced Lillie Carter-Grant, mother of protagonist Karma and doctor, in the animated series Karma's World.

Personal life

On July 2, 2019, Brooks announced that she was pregnant with her first child. In November, she gave birth to a girl. She is married to Dennis Gelin.

Filmography

Film

Key
* Denotes works that have not yet been released
Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2014 Time Out of Mind Receptionist
2015 I Dream Too Much Abbey
Phenomenal Woman, a Short Film Woman Short film
2016 The Angry Birds Movie Olive Blue/Monica the Crossing Guard (voice)
2018 Sadie Carla
2019 Clemency Evette
The Day Shall Come Venus
The Public's Much Ado About Nothing Beatrice Filmed production
All the Little Things We Kill Claire Soto
2020 Eat Wheaties! Wendy
2023 The Color Purple * Sofia Post-production
2025 Minecraft * Dawn Pre-production

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2012 Modern Love Raimy TV movie
2013 Black Girls Rock! 2013 Herself TV movie
2013–2019 Orange Is the New Black Tasha "Taystee" Jefferson Main role, 89 episodes
2014 Girls Laura Episode: "Females Only"
2015–2017 Master of None Shannon 3 episodes
2017 Tangled: The Series Ruthless Ruth (voice) Episode: "The Wrath of Ruthless Ruth"
Lip Sync Battle Herself Episode: "Danielle Brooks vs. Uzo Aduba"
2018 Project Runway All Stars Herself Episode: "Damsels in Distress"
High Maintenance Regine Episode: "Namaste"
Elena of Avalor Charica (voice) Episode: "A Lava Story"
2020–2022 Close Enough Pearle Watson (voice) Recurring role (season 1); main (season 2)
2020 Social Distance Imani Episode: "And We Could All Together/Go Out on the Ocean"
Sarah Cooper: Everything's Fine Jordana Bachman TV special
2021 Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia Mahalia Jackson TV movie; also co-executive producer
2021–22 Karma's World Dr. Lillie Carter-Grant (voice) 8 episodes
2022–present Peacemaker Leota Adebayo Main role, 8 episodes
2022 Instant Dream Home Host 8 episodes

Theatre

Year Title Role Notes
2015–17 The Color Purple Sofia Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, Broadway
2019 Much Ado About Nothing Beatrice Delacorte Theater, Off-Broadway
2022–23 The Piano Lesson Berniece St. James Theatre, Broadway

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Work Result
2013 Young Hollywood Award Breakthrough Actress Orange is the New Black Won
Screen Actors Guild Award Outstanding Ensemble in a Comedy Series Won
2015 Won
2016 Won
Tony Award Best Featured Actress in a Musical The Color Purple Nominated
Drama Desk Award Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical Nominated
Outer Critics Circle Award Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical Nominated
Theatre World Award Honoree
2017 Grammy Award Best Musical Theater Album Won
2020 Drama League Award Distinguished Performance Much Ado About Nothing Nominated
2021 Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Television Movie Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia Nominated
2022 Saturn Award Best Supporting Actress in a Streaming Series Peacemaker Nominated
2023 Drama League Award Distinguished Performance The Piano Lesson Nominated
Daytime Emmy Awards Daytime Program Host Instant Dream Home Pending

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Danielle Brooks para niños

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