Danielle Brooks

Danielle Brooks (born September 17, 1989) is an American actress. After studying drama at the Juilliard School she earned her breakthrough in television before expanding to theater and film. She has received a Grammy Award as well as nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, two Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award.

Her breakthrough role was as prison inmate Tasha "Taystee" Jefferson in the Netflix comedy-drama series Orange Is the New Black (2013–2019). She made her Broadway debut as Sofia in the musical revival of The Color Purple (2015), earning a nomination for a Tony Award as well as a Grammy Award. She reprised her role in the 2023 film adaptation for which she was nominated for an Academy Award, British Academy Film Award, and Golden Globe Award. She played the title role in the Lifetime film Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia (2021) earning a nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award as an executive producer.

In 2022, Brooks hosted Netflix's reality series Instant Dream Home and was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Daytime Program Host. The same year, Brooks starred in the superhero series Peacemaker (2022–2025), and returned to Broadway in the revival of the August Wilson play The Piano Lesson, for which she received a Drama Desk Award nomination. She is also known for her recurring role in the Netflix comedy series Master of None (2015–2017) and her role in the adventure comedy film A Minecraft Movie (2025).

Early life and education Brooks was born on September 17, 1989, in Augusta, Georgia, in a Christian family. Her father Dunnel is a BMW worker and a deacon and her mother LaRita is a teacher and 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 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts.

Career 2013–2019: Breakthrough

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. 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." For her performance, Brooks received three NAACP Image Awards nominations; one for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2016, and two for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series. She also received the 2014 Young Hollywood Awards for Breakthrough and three Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series.

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. From 2015 to 2017 she also appeared in Netflix series Master of None. 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". She has done voice-over work in the 2016 animated feature The Angry Birds Movie and later appeared in the films Sadie (2018), Clemency (2019) and The Day Shall Come (2019).

Brooks made her Broadway debut in the 2015 revival of The Color Purple as Sofia alongside Jennifer Hudson and Cynthia Erivo. The musical opened on December 10, 2015, at the Bernard B. Jacobs. Brooks received good reviews 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. Also in 2019, Brooks recorded her first single titled "Black Woman".

2020–present

In 2020, Brooks co-starred opposite Tony Hale in the comedy film Eat Wheaties!. In 2021 she played gospel singer Mahalia Jackson in the made-for-television biographical film Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia, for which she received nominations for Critics' Choice Awards, Satellite Awards, and NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special, and an Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie as an executive producer. In 2022, Brooks was cast in James Gunn's Max superhero series Peacemaker playing the role of Leota Adebayo, Amanda Waller's (Viola Davis) daughter. The series is a spin-off of Gunn's film The Suicide Squad (2021) and is the first television series to be included in the DCEU. In a 2022 interview, Brooks revealed that Gunn was a big fan of Orange Is the New Black and wrote the part of Adebayo with her in mind. The role gained her a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress on Television nomination in 2022.

In 2022, Brooks starred as Berniece in a Broadway revival of August Wilson's The Piano Lesson starting on September 19, 2022, directed by LaTanya Richardson Jackson; the production received mixed reviews from critics. Brooks received a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play nomination for her performance. In 2022, Brooks also hosted the Netflix reality series Instant Dream Home and was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Daytime Program Host.

In 2023, Brooks starred in The Color Purple, a feature adaptation of the musical of the same name, directed by Blitz Bazawule. She received positive reviews for her performance. Film critic Peyton Robinson from RogerEbert.com wrote in her review: "Brooks, Tony-nominated for her onstage depiction, is the film's no-holds-barred knockout, giving an undeniably crowd-pleasing performance. Her charismatic presence is spellbinding, and her emotional dexterity in covering the full spectrum of affectations, from tear-jerking to side-splitting, is a joy to witness. Sofia is heralded for her refusal to be ignored, underestimated, or disrespected, and Brooks' performance demands the same." Alissa Wilkinson from The New York Times called her "incredible", while Ella Kemp from Evening Standard wrote: "Brooks' star power is infectious". The performance gained her nominations for an Academy Award, British Academy Film Award, and Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Brooks appeared in A Minecraft Movie and voiced the main antagonist Kitty Kat in The Bad Guys 2.

Personal life On July 2, 2019, Brooks announced that she was pregnant with her first child. In November, she gave birth to a girl, Freeya. She married Dennis Gelin in January 2022 in Miami, Florida.

On July 9, 2025, Brooks became an honorary member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 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)First voice role 2018 Sadie Carla 2019 Clemency Evette The Day Shall Come Venus The Public's Much Ado About Nothing BeatriceFilmed production All the Little Things We Kill Claire Soto 2020 Eat Wheaties! Wendy 2023 The Color Purple Sofia 2025 A Minecraft Movie Dawn The Bad Guys 2 Kitty Kat (voice) Oh. What. Fun. Morgan 2026 If I Go Will They Miss Me Lozita Filming 2027 Dawn Filming

Television Year Title Role Notes 2012 Modern Love Raimy TV movie 2013 Black Girls Rock! 2013 Herself TV movie 2013–2019Orange 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) 2020Social 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 2021–2022 Karma's World Dr. Lillie Carter-Grant (voice) 10 episodes 2022–2025 Peacemaker Leota Waller Adebayo Main role, 15 episodes 2022 Instant Dream Home Host 8 episodes

Video games

Theatre Year Title Role Notes 2015–2017 The Color Purple Sofia Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, Broadway 2019 Much Ado About Nothing Beatrice Delacorte Theater, Off-Broadway 2022–2023 The Piano Lesson Berniece St. James Theatre, Broadway 2027 You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown Lucy van Pelt New York City Center, Off-Broadway

Awards and nominations