Danielle Brooks
For me, it's important to be the representation that I wanted when I was a young girl.
I love 'Insecure.' I want to play Issa Rae's sister. I do know Issa Rae, but we ain't besties or nothing.
The sassy black woman who can land a good joke was sort of my go-to audition. Or playing a struggling mother.
My biggest thing is telling a truthful story, something that is rooted in something and is very honest. If I read a script and you want me to take off my top, and it doesn't serve a purpose, then I'm not going to do it.
Clothing is so much a part of who we are; that's our way of expressing ourselves.
My mother is a pastor. I think she has her moments where she's like, 'Dani, what are you getting into,' but at the end of the day, she really supports me as an actor.
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.
You reap what you sow, and sometimes the soil can be very dry, and sometimes it will bring a lot of rain.
I just want to be fully challenged as an artist, so that anyone who looks like me, who relates to me, says, 'Oh, if Danielle did it, I can.'
I feel that we all have missions and purposes in life. Part of mine is allowing women to feel beautiful in whatever they put on - or don't put on.
I think theater and church are so relatable because it's traditional call-and-response in the way that an audience interacts with the actors.
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.
Personally, I don't want to live with limitations. If there comes a time where I am dying to play Juliet or Macbeth, I want to make those avenues for myself.
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.
In South Carolina, there's a lot of arts programs. So I was blessed enough to go to the Governor School For Arts & Humanities.
Because I've worked with Netflix from the beginning, and that's my first job, I only want to work with creators, producers, and networks that are pushing the limit and putting people on the screen that haven't had their stories told yet.
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 went to Juilliard, for God's sakes. I know a little something about combat.
I always wanted to be a Broadway girl. But once I got Tony-nominated, it really messed with me, because it was like, yes, I'm getting this affirmation that you're right where you're supposed to be, but there was still this voice saying, 'You're not good enough.'
I want to design clothes that I wish I could have worn when I was a teenager.
I want to be in everything, but that's because I haven't seen someone who looks like me in everything. I want to play a superhero. I want to be the love interest. I want to write my own stuff and create my own projects. I want to be in French films.
I've always said that actor years is like dog years: it feels like forever when you're not working.
I've gotten rejected a lot.
It wasn't until I saw 'The Color Purple' on Broadway when I was 15 that I really solidified acting is what I want to do professionally.
Sometimes you have to sacrifice your pride to really go after what you want.
I'm a country girl. We lived in a neighborhood, but at the back of the house, there was a little pathway with a creek and a trail. And we would go there, me and my brother. It was always an adventure in our imagination.
Sometimes I need a slower pace, to slow my mind down and just be with nature, go outside.
I grew up spending a lot of time in church, almost every day, whether in choir rehearsal or praise team or Bible study - there was always a reason.
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 don't drink coffee, but I do try to find a way to get some chocolate in every day.
I don't necessarily have one mentor or 'a' mentor. But I do pull inspiration from people, and that's always kind of served me well.
I've always known I wanted to be an actress. I didn't know quite how I was going to get there because I come from a small town called Simpsonville, South Carolina.
I go by my own standards, and I will be the voice of the curves for the women that feel like they can't stand up for themselves.Collection: Curves
"Be fearless," is one thing. I'm still learning what that means, to be fearless. It doesn't just mean to be fearless in your work, but also in life. Don't compare your career to anyone else's. It's tough when you're in a business that's competitive. Now, I'm having to learn to be patient and be where I am. Because I'm driven, I have a hard time being patient. The universe is like, "You're not ready! Sit back and wait." Everything will line up just how it's supposed to.Collection: Mean
I don't have to accept what you think I should look like and I do not accept what you think I should look like.Collection: Thinking
I think there are more limiting factors in my career than just being chocolate. I think being a curvy girl is also a factor. Being someone with natural hair is also a factor. Those are things that I can't change. Personally, I don't want to live with limitations. If there comes a time where I am dying to play Juliet or Macbeth, I want to make those avenues for myself. The world might limit me, but as the type of artist I am, I'll create those opportunities.Collection: Girl
I've always been able to fake my way into confidence. Sometimes I put my own fears aside to make sure I'm being of service to others. To clarify - hell yes, it was brave of me to step out in my lingerie for the commercial compaign, not because I'm plus-sized, but because I'm a human being. People get it confused. I'm brave because I'm not afraid of what people are going to say about me. It's not an easy thing to do, but it is something that I will always challenge myself to do. I don't want to be held back by my body because someone tells me I should.Collection: Confused
By no longer operating out of a place of fear. So if you see me on a carpet with my arms and legs out glistening, or my midriff exposed, it's a reminder to myself and the world that I know I'm beautiful.Collection: Beautiful
There's 67 percent of women that are in this plus-size world that we live in. And that's over half of the women in the world. So why are we not dressing for [them]?Collection: Size
I am really glad women are speaking out.Collection: Glad
Honestly, I haven't always been into fashion because I wasn't seeing myself reflected in the fashion industry ... Clothes are such a big part of who we are, they really show our personalities. I wasn't finding that.Collection: Fashion
It's crazy how your mind works because you can receive hundreds and thousands of all these love posts and all this good affirmation on Instagram or Twitter. And then that one person writes one thing that dims your light but that's the thing you can't let it dim your light, because what I've realized - it's really not your problem, it's theirs.Collection: Crazy
I feel beautiful when I watch the commercials or see myself on a bus. But it's not only because it is me on a bus, it's also what we represent - telling the world to get out of these social norms of what it means to be beautiful.Collection: Beautiful
Luckily my fans are so lovely and I haven't really had to - what's the phrase? - "Clap back at the trolls?" Every now and then I do get a troll that mentions my skin color and calls me ugly names, though, like "Dark Monkey." Most of the time those people have their pages blocked, or you can't even see their profile picture. I can't focus on that. What I've realized is that I have the power to control how I feel about what they say.Collection: Dark
I've always gotten like, "you're a queen"' or "yes motha." And "you're beautiful" and a lot of people are saying that because I am confident, and they are finding themselves to be more confident. Especially when you meet them in person.Collection: Beautiful
There are brands out there, plus-size brands, that all they want to do is sell their clothes and be done.Collection: Clothes
My struggle now is with these red carpets. It is still really hard to get people to design for me. It's frustrating because you feel like you're the minority. You feel this pull of what it means to be "sample size" and you're not that and most designers don't have anything that fits. It's so important to continuously put billboards where people see curvy women and know that we are here and we deserve to be designed for. We deserve to spend our money on expensive stuff if we want.Collection: Struggle