Quinta Brunson has had a bewildering summer.
For the first time since she was 14, she spent it not working.
Needless to say, given its rapturous reception, there will be others.
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She’s signed a multiyear deal with Warner Bros. Television Group to develop new series and tell fresh stories.
Newly mintedMeet the Presshost Kristen Welkeralso hails from Brunsons hometown of Philadelphia.
Both women are self-proclaimed Philly kids to their coretenacious, open, and generous in equal measure.
Carolina Herrera shirt and pants.
Janine Teagues would be so proud.
Glamour
Kristen Welker: Lets talk about how you got your first start.
And then I would say it, and I really enjoyed making them laugh.
Where does that come from?
I was just passionate about making people laugh!
It brought me such joy.
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It really connected me to my siblings.
I came so much later than them, so I think to them that was the value in me.
Because they thought my mom was done, and then here I come and it was like, Ugh.
What’s the age difference?
How did growing up in Philadelphia, broadly speaking, set the stage for everything you’re doing now?
Philadelphia is such a unique city.
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To just call it diverse would be reductive, which is what people do sometimes: Oh, diversity.
Yeah, it’s diverse, but it’s more than that.
Its something I venture to put intoAbbott.
Its such a rich, rich, rich city.
We’re all in such close proximity.
And it’s not like we live in harmony, but so much felt accessible to me.
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I felt able to tap into other cultures easily.
It wasn’t foreign; it wasn’t scary to me.
It was right next to me.
Aliette dress. Alexander McQueen necklace.
It feels more like the city is one big messed-up family, but one big family.
And I feel that way about myself in this industry.
It’s like, I know that I’m good.
I’m not really proving that part, I’m just
You still feel like the underdog?
I don’t think I ever stopped feeling like the underdog.
And who knows if that’s good or bad for us?
Does that fuel you to keep going?
And I just got here.
I just need more time.
How hard was it to leave Philadelphia to go to Los Angeles?
It wasn’t very hard at all.
I knew I had to go.
But I had to break it to my parents, and my mom specifically.
That was the hard part.
What did she say?
She was not happy.
And it was hard for me.
That was 10 years ago.
I couldn’t express to her my vision.
It’s not like when you’re saying, I’m going to become a doctor.
She was not happy, but she learned to trust me, which was nice.
That’s when I knew I couldn’t go on the apps!
So dating became a little bit more difficult.
Is that something that is inherent?
You’re the one who inspired my creativity.
We’ve all been there!
We have all been there.
How much was your mom, who was a teacher, an inspiration forAbbott?
I mean, I know you talk about the hysterical stories that she used to tell you.
I mean, fully.
More than her telling me stories, it was just watching her.
And I’m very happy you said that.
So many outlets have been saying, This show was inspired by [Quintas] teacher, Ms. Abbott.
She was just recognized in Philadelphia.
She just was, and she is wonderful and absolutely deserves it.
I called her the night after she got honored, and she was just so grateful and wonderful.
And I just want people to know that both of them were a huge, huge, huge inspiration.
When I think about Janine, your character onAbbott, I think about her optimism.
To have the show revolve around an optimist is in some ways a risk.
Because we’re so used to, on TV, seeing the complicated figures.
Absolutely, I agree with you.
I mean, the optimism can sometimes make her both hard to write and hard to watch.
We need both the optimist and the pessimist.
You need them both to make change.
And once again, nothing will get done.
How do you navigate that?
To me, it’s a choice.
It’s the same thing as making a show that directly chooses to tackle issues about being queer.
But withAbbott, I really wanted to lead with everyday story first, and let everything fold into that.
I think that’s the way the majority of the people that I [know are].
Like my family, theyre very working class.
When they’re at work, the issue at work is just the task at hand.
So for me, withAbbott, it’s like, well, this is a predominantly Black environment.
These are characters that aren’t going to spend their days talking about race.
You rejected that idea.
I think two reasons.
One is similar to what I just mentioned about race.
I say that knowing that school shootings happen all the time, every day or every week, unfortunately.
But there are two different realities.
There’s the one present in the classroom where teachers are just trying to get through a lesson.
And then there’s the outside perspective of us engaging with teachers through the news.
They’re just trying to get the reading scores up.
They’re just trying to do this job.
If anything, the school shooting thing is in the background, like, Fuck.
It’s kind of like, We got to deal with that too?
Do you know what I mean?
I don’t want to open up my show to that political violence.
I consider it that at this pointeven the discourse of it is violent.
A lot of people, I think, would be curious: What kind of a student were you?
Oh, I was really good.
I loved being an A student.
I think there’s more value in me walking around the city.
I would walk around downtown and walk around Independence Hall, and really just feel the city.
You were experiencing life.
I had one day like that, full disclosure.
I had many, many, many, many, many, many.
And to me, I was like, it wasn’t a big deal.
It’s like, I actually spent the day at the art museum.
And you still learned a lot.
It got kind of rough during high school, but I still graduated.
How did that hit you when you found out?
And did you ever imagine that the show would have this reach and impact that many people?
I was a dancer, and we danced to every single song Janet ever made.
She stopped me, and she was like, I love your show.
It hadnt even occurred to me that Janet Jackson would’ve ever seenAbbott.
I was just like, What?
It was like, Oh, Jill Biden’s watching the show in Air Force One.
Okay, so tomorrow we need this.
I’m going to minimize it, put it in the back of my brain.
Let’s get ready for work tomorrow.
I recently saw that picture again and it was just like, What?
Can you give us any teaser for what people can expect on season three ofAbbott Elementary?
I think they can expect more exciting guest starspeople who are very exciting to me.
And I think they can expect more growth.
That’s the beauty of starting your characters young.
Janine and Gregory and Jacob are in their 20s.
That’s exciting to me.
You have, what is it?
Four, five jobs?
How do you approach that?
I mean, that is so much responsibility.
Our first season was only 13 episodes, and we created those 13 episodes before the show aired.
I couldn’t be in every place at once, so I had to pick and choose my battles.
This season I’ll have to learn where I need to be and when.
It’s an ever-changing process.
I have to learn how to also say yes and no to things.
I’m more of a Barbara this year.
I’m more about saving the energy this year.
I think that’s the quote of the interview.
What is next for you?
Do you think about maybe doing something for the big screen?
And I’m really excited for what I’m going to do afterAbbott.
I know for a fact I’ll never star in a show again, that I write.
Too, too much, will never do that again.
I’m in it.
I love it right now, but I’m like, Never again.
Do you have ideas for it already?
Yes, I have a fully formed idea.
I’m really excited about it.
I just need time.
Can you share any of it with us?
Just that it’s a coming-of-age story, so about a younger girl.
That’s howAbbottwas for years.
It was just sitting in the back of my brain.
I heard that you just visited Europe, and you’re thinking about going to London.
Yeah, moving to London.
Is that a real thing?
I just loved it.
I felt at home.
You are from Philly.
Have you been to London?
Yes, I love London.
I mean, I felt like I was home.
The architecture, how old the city is.
The gray, the rainI just absolutely adored it.
I felt at home.Abbottkeeps me in LA full-time because it just is better to live here.
But after the show I definitely could see myself moving out of the country.
And you talked about your husbandwhat do you guys do in your free time?
What do you do to unwind?
Watch different shows and movies.
Right now we’re watchingAhsoka.
It’s a Star Wars show.
What else do we do?
We’re going to go see a Keith Haring exhibit, hopefully today at the Broad museum.
Hang with our friends.
We have a really good friend group here, and doing things like game nights and barbecues and eating.
We hang in our pool.
We hang with our cat.
What’s your cat’s name?
His name’s Jack.
He’s not that cool, but he’s cool because I love him.
Quinta, let me ask you this, and it’s one that has personal resonance for me.
How did you learn how to actually be a boss?
I didn’t really have an image in my head of who to be like.
I love working in teams and groups, and I attempt to bring that to my role atAbbott.
And most of the time, I would say 95% of the time, it really does work.
To me, our production is a community.
Notice I didn’t say family because its not, technically.
I’m very against Janine-with-the-family workplace.
But I do think it’s a community.
Let’s hear each other out.
Let’s support each other.
Let’s meet when things aren’t going well.
It’s a great guiding principle, and it’s a great place to end.
It’s been such an honor to talk to you.
Thank you, it’s been an honor to talk to you too.
