Actor Danielle Brooks has blessings to count

Fresh Air

Actress Danielle Brooks discusses her journey from growing up in a church environment with minister parents to becoming a celebrated perform

Key takeaways

• Brooks initially hesitated to take on her breakout role as Taystee due to concerns about how it portrayed Black women, but found joy and complexity in the character's humanity.
• Her early experiences singing in church deeply influenced her artistic expression and emotional authenticity on stage and screen.

Main topics

• Faith and upbringing in a church environment
• Career journey from Juilliard to major film and TV roles

Notable quotes

"I didn't want to play Tasty in the beginning. Why? Because she was an inmate. And because I was nervous coming out of Juilliard... what viewpoint am I putting out about Black women?"

Conclusion

Danielle Brooks reflects on her career with humility and gratitude, em

Transcript preview

Speaker 5 (0:00) This message comes from the podcast Before and After with Lester Holt. One moment can change a life forever. Hear Lester's conversations with Jeremy Renner, Gabby Giffords, and others about rebuilding after the unimaginable. Search Before and After to follow now. Speaker 2 (0:16) This is Fresh Air. I'm Terry Gross. When Danielle Brooks started appearing in the Netflix series Orange is the New Black as the character Tasty, she was astonished to find she was recognized wherever she went. Orange was about women in prison, and Brooks played one of those women. When the series premiered in 2013, Brooks was a recent graduate of Juilliard, and Netflix was relatively new to producing original content. Two years later, while still filming Orange, she learned she'd gotten a role in the Broadway revival of The Color Purple as Sophia, the character that Oprah Winfrey played in the 1985 film. Rather than giving up one of those roles, she continued to shoot Orange while also performing on Broadway. The Color Purple had special significance for Danielle Brooks. The original production of the musical was the first Broadway show she'd ever seen. It convinced her she wanted to act and that there might be a place for a Black woman like her. She was nominated for a Tony for her performance in The Revival and was nominated for an Oscar when she played Sophia again in the 2023 movie adaptation of the Broadway musical. While preparing for this interview, I learned she played the beloved gospel singer Mahalia Jackson in a 2021 biopic for the Lifetime channel that's now streaming on several platforms. She gets to do a lot of singing in that, and as you'll hear later, it really shows off how emotionally and physically powerful her voice is. Brooks started singing and acting in church. Her mother is a minister. Her father is a recently retired deacon. Brooks was also recently in a Minecraft movie and in the series Peacemaker. Now she's in a new indie film called If I Go, Will They Miss Me? It's about how one family's life is changed when the husband and father is released from prison and returns home, emotionally distant from his wife and two children. Brooks plays the wife and mother who has a steady job and is holding the family together with no help from her husband. Brooks and John Batiste are two of the executive producers. The credit music is John Batiste singing This Bitter Earth. Speaker 2 (2:24) Danielle Brooks, Speaker 4 (2:25) welcome Speaker 2 (2:25) to Fresh Air. It's Speaker 4 (2:26) such a pleasure to be able to talk with you. Speaker 8 (2:29) Oh, Terry, it is so lovely to speak with you, too. Thank you for having me. My Speaker 4 (2:34) pleasure. So, you know, in Orange is the new black you play, a prisoner. And Speaker 2 (2:39) now in this new movie, you're playing the wife of somebody who's been in and out of prison. Speaker 7 (2:46) Yeah. Speaker 2 (2:47) Oh, and in Clemency, the father of your child is on death row. So this is like the third that I'm aware of, the third movie related to prison that you've been in. And I wonder if you see that as related to mass incarceration, like a reflection of mass incarceration. When Speaker 6 (3:06) you put it like that, I'm like, man, I need to play, I don't know, a royal queen or something. Speaker 2 (3:13) Well, you come close and Mahalia. Speaker 6 (3:15) Hey, I love that. Yeah, for sure. I mean, yeah, this is the Speaker 8 (3:22) world we live in, you know, and for me, I'm always searching, reaching for honesty and truthfulness in what is in this world. You know, I Speaker 3 (3:35) feel like I've been able to do a lot in my career, but yet we do find ourselves back in places like this. You know, when you mentioned like... playing a woman that's incarcerated. When it comes to Orange is the New Black Speaker 8 (3:55) and playing Tasty, this inmate, there was just so much complexity to who she was. And to be honest, Terry, I didn't want to play Tasty in the beginning. Why Speaker 3 (4:07) not? Because she was an inmate. And because I was nervous coming out of Juilliard, 21 years old, like, oh my gosh, I'm about to play an inmate. And what is that, you know, saying about Black women? You know, what viewpoint am I putting out Speaker 8 (4:27) about Black women? But then I remember my audition and the casting director saying, you know, I know what's on the page, but she's very lighthearted. She has a lot of heart to who she is, joy to Speaker 3 (4:42) who she is. And I was so excited. Because I was like, that's the direction I was already planning on going with her. And you see me singing, you know, in the shower, you know, in the beginning, that's the first scene is me singing, tell me something good. And it's just, that's what drew me to her. It was more to her. She was a young woman who actually did not commit the crime. She was in foster care. You know, she started a riot, you know, there was just a lot to the person, you know, and I find that to be true with clemency. And if I go, will they miss me, especially? Speaker 4 (5:30) So, John Batiste is one of the executive producers of the film, and he sings the credit music, The Spit of Earth, which Dinah Washington had a popular recording of. I'm wondering, I know he went to Juilliard. Did you know each other in Juilliard? Speaker 6 (5:46) We did. Speaker 4 (5:48) And you've recorded together also. Yes, Speaker 6 (5:50) we did. John Batiste and I were at Juilliard at the same time, and we also graduated the same year. I remember watching him in the halls and he was a hoot. I mean, this man would be running around with that small miniature piano that he plays in his hand, blowing it, you know, as like if he was on a line in New Orleans, you know, with his friends behind him jamming in the cafeteria. And I was like, who the heck is this man? You know, he was just so. Such an artiste, you know what I mean? Like artsy fartsy kid from New Orleans. Did Speaker 4 (6:30) you introduce yourself to him? Speaker 6 (6:32) I think we just knew each other because we were black kids at Juilliard. It's not but so many of us, you know what I mean? And so I actually remember we would do these like crossovers. So it's where like the drama division would hang out with Speaker 3 (6:47) the musicians. So he was in the jazz department and we would jam. And I remember like John would play something and they asked one of the actors to sing with him. And I remember that was the thing. So it was like a call and repeat type thing where he would play like a doodle. do-do-do-do-do, and I would repeat it with my voice, you know. So I just feel like we bonded from that. And then, you know, we had like the Martin Luther King days where all the Black people would get together and others too. and put on a show in reverence of MLK. So we just found each other, you know what I mean? We built that community. And then from there on, I did an EP of my own music called For, and I asked John once we graduated if he would be on that, and he did. And then he asked me to do a Christmas song with him for Spotify, and I did. And then we did Color Purple together. Speaker 6 (7:53) You know, like it was just so it's just so many like full circle, beautiful moments that we've been able to share. Speaker 4 (7:59) So I want to talk about your singing. I want to play Hell No from the movie version of the Color Purple. But first, what was your audition for the Broadway revival when you first got to play Sophia? Oh, my Speaker 1 (8:13) gosh, Terry. So, I mean, it's layered. OK. Because I had seen Speaker 3 (8:22) The Color Purple on Broadway at 15. My dad had taken me. And, you know, I go to Juilliard. That was a big deal because Speaker 4 (8:30) you were from Greensville, South Carolina. Oh, Speaker 1 (8:32) yes. Speaker 4 (8:32) It was huge. And so you were doing an internship in New York. Yes. And you got to see The Color Purple. Speaker 3 (8:37) Yes, Speaker 4 (8:37) my dad. Your first Broadway show. Speaker 3 (8:39) Yes, took me to the Broadway show Color Purple, because to be honest, at the time, and that's a whole nother conversation, but that was the only Black show outside or considered the only Black show outside of The Lion King, which is actually about animals played by Black actors that was on Broadway at the time. And so, yeah, my dad took me. I was in awe. My jaw was on the floor, tears falling down my face. I was like, this is what I want to do. Speaker 4 (9:07) So what was your audition song? Speaker 3 (9:10) Hell No. Speaker 4 (9:12) Oh, wow. I auditioned with Hell No. And I remember like they had Speaker 6 (9:17) this. Speaker 4 (9:17) Was that your choice or their choice? Speaker 6 (9:19) No, that's their choice. They want to make sure that's what we were singing. Yeah, for sure. But I remember like they had a table with the director and producers. And I went straight up to that table and I tapped that table. And I was like. All my life I've had to fight. And I just remember them being like, whoa. And I could feel them being like, yeah, this is our Sophia. Because of course Sophia would have enough kahunas to come up to the table and get right in our face. Speaker 4 (9:48) That's great. So let's hear the real thing. So this is Sophia basically saying to Celie, if a man raises his hand to you, hell no. Fight back. Don't take it. Speaker 7 (10:01) All my life I've had to fight. I had to fight my daddy, had to fight my brothers, my cousins, my uncles too. But I never, never, never, never, never, never thought I'd have to fight in my own house. I feel sorry for you to tell you the truth. Speaker 7 (10:44) You remind me of my mama under your husband's thumb. No, you under your husband's thumb. Oh, man, I love that. Speaker 4 (10:58) You sound so good in that. One of the hardest things in a musical, I think, is to get from the dialogue into the song. And I'm wondering what that was like for you. Speaker 4 (11:09) Like how you try to make that transition. Speaker 8 (11:13) From dialogue to song. Speaker 4 (11:16) Well, Speaker 8 (11:17) I think, you know, we're taught when it's time to sing, it's the most heightened moment of the section, you know, whatever part. Right. Speaker 4 (11:28) It's too big to express just through spoken word. Speaker 8 (11:31) Exactly. And so I think that just helps. you know, you as an actor to know the movement of the piece, you know, and that was exciting to, to get to do that. And so, cause I'm, I'm not a theater girl, like people, a musical theater girl, like people