Danielle Brooks

In Greenville, we were blessed to have lots of youth arts programs. I changed middle schools to go to an arts middle school. Then, when high school came, I went to normal high school for a little while before auditioning for the Governor's School for Arts and Humanities. ”

Don't compare your career to anyone else's. It's tough when you're in a business that's competitive. I was having a difficult time with that in college. Now, I'm having to learn to be patient and be where I am. ”

The sassy black woman who can land a good joke was sort of my go-to audition. Or playing a struggling mother. ”

Clothing is so much a part of who we are; that's our way of expressing ourselves. ”

Designing wasn't something that I was always into, but I wasn't able to find clothes that I wanted to wear. I wanted to be able to walk into any store and have an idea of what I want and go and get it. ”

I was always getting caught for running my mouth. Which is why it was the best thing for me to get into acting so I could express myself. ”

I've gotten rejected a lot. ”

I went to Juilliard, for God's sakes. I know a little something about combat. ”

That's very, very important to me, to give another narrative. And Netflix has not been afraid of doing that, as we see from the plethora of shows that they have, from British shows to American shows like 'Master of None,' which I've been very grateful to be on, too. Just giving platforms to people who haven't seen themselves on TV. ”

I like to play people who are underdogs and misfits. People who are not on a straight and narrow path. That's exciting for me. ”