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What Does it Take to Be One of The Greats? with Danielle Brooks · QUESTION EVERYTHING

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: No one has all the answers, but when we ask
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: the right questions, we get a little closer. Closer to truths.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Closer to each other. Even closer to ourselves. I'm journalist
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: Danielle Robay, and each week my guests and I come
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: together to challenge the status quo and our own ways
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: of thinking by daring to ask, what if?
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: Why not? And who says?
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: So come curious.
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: Dig deep.
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: And join the conversation. It's time to question everything. In 2022,
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: Whoopi Goldberg looked Danielle Brooks in the eye and told her,
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: you are everything we want a great to be. Now,
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: if you know her work, that tracks. At 22 years old,
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: Danielle was cast as Tasty on Orange is the New Black,
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: the show that helped make Netflix, Netflix. And it launched
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: nearly its entire cast into global superstardom. And then she
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: played Sophia in The Color Purple on Broadway and then
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: on screen. She has a Tony nomination, a Grammy, an
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: Oscar nomination, and now her own podcast, The Intermission. But
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: here's what I didn't know until we sat down together.
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: Some of the biggest moments of Danielle's career almost didn't happen.
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: It wasn't because she lacked the talent. It was because
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: again and again, someone told her to wait. At 17,
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: a Juilliard faculty member told her she didn't have enough
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: life experience and she should take a year off. She
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: almost turned down Orange is the New Black after getting
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: that role. And when the show made her famous all
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: over the world, she was making nowhere near enough money
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: to live like it.
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: I was out here struggling. I was still taking the bus.
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: I was taking the subway and people were running after me,
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: chasing me. We weren't making the money to support this
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: new stardom.
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: By her seventh season, she wasn't making half of what
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: the kids on Stranger Things were making. But she didn't
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: push because somewhere inside, she believed that Hollywood could replace her.
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: She had to audition all over again for a role
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: she'd already made her own on Broadway. She lost a
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: film she desperately wanted, and she told me it made
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: her want to quit acting and question God. A year later,
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: she was an Oscar nominee.
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: I think the question really lies within me. Why did
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: I not follow through with what I wanted to do?
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: If God gave it to me to do, then I
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: should have followed through, regardless of what somebody else had
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: in mind for my future. Lead yourself.
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: These days, she sorts her work into two buckets. Some
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: projects are for financial gain. They feed her family. And others,
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: she says, she takes for spiritual gain. Because some work
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: pays you, and other work, well, it pays you back.
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: So yeah, we talk about all of it, about Oprah,
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: about Whoopi, about the Orange is the New Black Sisterhood,
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: about the pay gap, and the rom-com that Hollywood still
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: owes her. But this whole interview is not so serious.
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: She is really funny. Wait for the last girl's night
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: in card that she pulls. So, Danielle Brooks has spent
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: her whole career waiting for someone else to call action.
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: So I think the question we're circling today is, what
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: happens when you finally call it yourself? It's time to
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: question everything. with Danielle Brooks. Okay, Danielle, we are days
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: away from your birthday.
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: Yes, Danielle, we are. It's weird. Those people. I'm not
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: mad at it. Me neither.
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: It's kind of like, I guess everybody's favorite word in
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: the English language is their name, and we're going to
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: say it a lot today. Oh, dang! So your podcast
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: is called Intermission.
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: And you ask people to look inward in a really
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: intentional way, which I'm hopefully going to have you do today.
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: But first, I want to know what your birthday mission is.
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: What are you doing to celebrate?
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: Oh, girl, relax and spend time with my little one.
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: That is all I want. I want it to be
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: just like my husband, my bestie, and my daughter. That's
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: all I need in this world. I love my mom
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: and dad. I love y'all too, but... Those three is
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: all I need. So I just want to spend time
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: with them. I'm good.
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: Do you have any birthday traditions or anything that you
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: always do?
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: I just eat cake. That's it. Somebody just bring me
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: a cake with a candle to blow out. It's the
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: simple things. But I used to have a really good one.
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: I think I've been keeping up with it. I got
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: to keep up with it this year. I work out
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: every birthday.
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: And most of the time I make an event out
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: of it. So I did do this last year. Last
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: year was a mixed fit dance class. So I had
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: my girls dress up in like 80s outfits. Oh, that's fun.
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: Or maybe was it 90s, 70s? I don't know what
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: year it was. But we dressed up, right? We did that.
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: It was a lot of fun. And then I've had
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: years where it was like SoulCycle. I was obsessed with SoulCycle.
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: And we would do that. So every year is some
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: kind of activity, hiking or something, because I feel like
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: you need to honor the fact that your body has
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: taken you on a journey for however many years. So
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: that's the first thing I do.
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: That's so beautiful.
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: Thank you.
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I love that. I like to work out on
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: my birthday, too. I used to be really disappointed a
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: lot on birthdays. And then I read this book by
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: Priya Parker, and she said, pick a word that you
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: want to feel and work backwards. And ever since I've
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: done that, I've not been disappointed. But it sounds like
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: you were kind of doing that without even knowing.
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, now you have me being intentional about it.
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: So I put it to words.
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: So I was really interested to learn that your passion
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: and your ambition for the podcast started back in 2011. 2011.
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: So what had you, what.
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: Was the holdup? Girl, girl. So I followed through. I
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: did the thing. I had these YouTube videos. I was
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: interviewing amazing guests at the time they were coming up,
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: but now they're famous as hell. So I was interviewing Dave,
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: I enjoy Randolph, Tiana Paris, Corey Hawkins, a bunch of
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: Broadway stars that are now Tony winners. I was doing
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: a thing, but I was interviewing them at Juilliard because
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: I had just graduated, didn't have a theater job or
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: anything like that, but I was working like at a restaurant.
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: So I had Gotten $ 356 saved up to buy a camera.
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: Bought this Canon, which I still have my Canon. Bought it,
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: had no mics, had no lights. But I went into
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: this Juilliard room and I would interview people. And it
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: was basically trying to ask them, you know, how did
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: you get where you are? Because I knew there was
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: still more for me to learn. Even though I had graduated,
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: there was so much that I just was curious about,
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: was wondering, like, what's the best way to do this thing,
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: you know? And so I asked the questions and they
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: gave me answers. And before I knew it, I was
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: in Orange is the New Black because I had taken
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: that advice. Right. So when I was in Orange is
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: the New Black, someone on my team who I really
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: do respect was saying to me, you know, Danielle, the
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: quality of your videos are not matching where you're going.
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: And I was like, dang, she right.
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: It's the worst when they're right.
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: She was so right, man. But what I wish I
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: would have done was get that quality to match. And instead,
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: I waited however many years to get this thing going again. So,
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: and at the time that was called Taking Root.
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: But what I thought was so interesting.
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: Talk to me.
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: Was that, so you took this pause and then you
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: get nominated for an Oscar.
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: Yes. So, yeah. So I had brought it back during
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: that time. I think it was like 2022, 2023.
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: I was like, I want to do it again. I'm
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: going to do it again. I interviewed four people, notable people,
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: super excited about it. Quality matching. It was like top tier. Okay.
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: I had a crew now, honey. It wasn't just a
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: one woman band. And my team was like, I feel
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: like maybe we should hold off because you are about
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: to be Oscar nominated. I said, look, y'all, I'm about
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: tired of this hold. I said, if I get Oscar nominated,
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: I will hold this off. If I do not, we
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: going to do this.
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: But why'd they want you to hold?
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: I don't know, to be honest. And to be honest,
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: I don't know if that's the real question. I think
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: the question really lies within me. Why did I not
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: follow through with what I wanted to do? I feel
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: like that was really the question for myself.
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: Wait, I heard you say that you recently felt like
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: you let someone's fear direct you.
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: I did. I did. But I still can't put that
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: on to anybody else because if the Holy Spirit, God,
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: whoever universe you believe in, which mine is God, if
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: God gave it to me to do, then I should
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: have followed through regardless of what somebody else had in
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: mind for my future. You know what I'm saying? And
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: that's what I think I've learned from here on out.
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: Follow your own heart. You know, lead yourself. And I
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: think that's been a big part of my learning and
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: my journey is is I have an incredible team of
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: people that work with me, work for me. But at
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: the end of the day, like I'm learning to move
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: how I want to move. But those people helped too,
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: to get me where I am, you know?
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: Is that why you listened?
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it was so much trust. I had so much
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: trust in that because I know I didn't get here
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: on my own to be, E! Got nominated and all
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: of these incredible things I've been able to do in shows, movies.
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: I've moved in every department, but I didn't do that
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: on my own. They were with me since day one.
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: But I learned there comes a point that you got
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: to take over your own career. And that's where I'm at. Yeah,
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: I know this industry is so fickle. You never know.
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: where it's going to go. And I want to always
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: stay in a creative mindset. So I felt like this
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: was a good thing for me to do.
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: I love that you use the word creative because I
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: was looking back at all your projects and I was like,
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: orange is the new black, the color purple. And now
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: you're kind of giving red with this podcast. All your
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: graphics are red. Did you become known for these color
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: based projects?
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: No.
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: No.
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: You got me thinking I should change the name of
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: the podcast. Make it something with red. No, I didn't.
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: Especially with orange is new black and color purple. I
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: didn't know that like I would be the color girl.
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: But hey, I'm here for it because yeah, why not?
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: Have you ever had your aura read?
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: No. Are you going to read it?
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: I wish I knew how, but I'm so curious what
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: your aura would be because of all the colors.
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: I would love to. I need to get one of
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: those rings. Yeah, I've never had, but I would love to.
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: You know, I can't help but notice how often something
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: begins small in your life and then turns to become
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: very significant. Orange is the New Black started out as
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: just a couple of episodes. And then I would say
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: the way that you played that character turned it into
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: a recurring role. It turned into seven seasons. And then
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: The Color Purple comes into your life as a teenager.
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: And years later, you play Sophia on Broadway and then
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: in the 2023 film. Do you feel like your career
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: has moved on divine timing?
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: Hell yeah. 100% divine timing. I don't always understand it,
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: but Lord, when it comes in view, girl, it's so
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: spectacularly beautiful. It is like this thing, I don't know,
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: it reminds me every time to be patient in the
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: journey because what you've envisioned for yourself is so minute
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: compared to what is out there for you. And that's
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: been fun to live in.
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: Are you living in that? Do you still have a
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: vision for who you want to be in the world?
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: Or do you just let it take you now?
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: I'm letting it take me. I think I'm staying true
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: to what I want to do. Whether that's producing, whether
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: that's being a host now. Whatever it is that I
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: want to do, I'm staying true to that. But I am...
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: Taking my hand off the wheel. I am so tired
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: of trying to control. Like, I'm a Virgo, as you know.
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: You know, so I'm tired of, like, trying to control
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: the narrative. And it has been more fun to see
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: where it takes me. You know, I think my parents
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: did a great job of instilling certain things in me.
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: So I feel like I'll never, like, go off the rails.
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: You know what I mean? I always know how to, like,
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: rebalance and recalibrate. But outside of that, like, yeah, I'm whatever, Lord,
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: you say I'm going to do. I'd rather do that.
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: You know what I'm saying? Because this life has been
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: pretty cool. It's been cool. Not always easy, but cool.
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: Part of me feels like you knew it was going
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: to work out, though.
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: Girl, no, I didn't. You didn't? Maybe. But I don't know.
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: I feel like I feel like there was a lot
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: of doubtful moments. But you're right. I think I did.
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: I think. I think even in my doubt, I did
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: know God was going to hold me down. There's a
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: scripture not to get so spiritual, but that's who I am.
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: You're on the right podcast. Okay, great. It's Proverbs, and
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: I can't remember exactly the scripture numbers. But delight yourself
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: in the Lord, and he will give you the desires
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: of your heart. And I know that's something that I've
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: always made, you know, to do.
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: I've always done is delight myself in the Lord. And
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: so I've just been waiting for him to give me
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: the desires. And he has. And it's been so rewarding
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: and so cool. Yeah, I got a lot to be
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: thankful for.
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: Do you think that certain stories wait for you?
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: Yes. I think faith without works is dead, though.
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: So you better work and plant those seeds, you know,
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: because if you don't, I do think things will miss you.
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: But I do believe that it'll wait for you. I
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: feel that. I feel like I know that because when
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: I went to Juilliard at 17, one of the faculty
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: directors at the time had encouraged me to take a
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: year off. They felt like I didn't have enough life experience.
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: And I was very influenced by this person. But I
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: decided to not listen to them because I said in
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: my head, I'm like, well, I am living life. This
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: is my life is my experience. I'm here. You know, like, yeah,
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: I'm right where I'm supposed to be. And thank God
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: I did not leave because Orange is the New Black
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: came around and they would have been started. I wouldn't
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: have been Tasty, somebody else. The journey would have just
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: been so different.
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: Well, you almost said no to it.
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: Oh, yeah, I did.
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: Because you were doing stage work.
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: Uh-huh. And I.
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: I'm so curious why you almost said no.
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: Girl, because they wanted me to be topless, child. Yes,
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: it was really why. It was really why.
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: Like you didn't want your parents to see you like that? Yes.
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: Well, you know, my mother's a minister. My father was
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: a deacon. And this was my first role. This was
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: my first, like, you know, big role. And I was
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: so nervous about being perceived as the girl just takes
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: the clothes off. I was scared. And so, you know,
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: I started asking like faculty and asking like casting directors
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: that I felt comfortable with saying, what do you think?
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: They was like, girl, if you don't go take that job,
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: go do this job. But yeah, I'm glad I didn't
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: turn it down. And I worked my way around by
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: speaking to the director and we found a way to
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: not even have to be topless, which was great.
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: Do you ever feel that still like grateful for a
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: role and nervous that it will make the industry see
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: you in a certain way?
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: Yes. Yes, for sure. Like I did an interview the
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: other day and someone was like, so you played an
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: inmate and then in clemency, you played the girlfriend of
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: an inmate. And now, and if I go, you're playing
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: the wife of an inmate. I was like, yeah, what
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: you trying to say to me, woman? I'm like, what
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: you trying to say? Like, but I know when I
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: look at the body of my resume, it is very wide.
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: You know, I have been able to do action TV
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: shows and cartoons and Broadway and Shakespeare and musicals. It
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: is so wide. So I do have moments where I'm like,
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: let's make sure that I'm not sticking to one thing.
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: But for the most part, I know that I'm moving
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: in the right direction with the choices that I make.
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: You mentioned that you didn't know what Netflix was. And
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: I just want to drive that point home for people
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: because Orange is the New Black was one of the
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: shows that made Netflix Netflix.
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: Like you guys put it on the map.
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: And it launched you into global superstardom. Like not just
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: famous in America. You were famous all over the world.
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: Girl, we was outside. Do you hear me? Outside. Okay.
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: Like they were taking us. To Germany and Mexico several times.
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: I mean, my Australia, my passport was so stamped. It
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: was the coolest thing for somebody who was 22 years old.
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: I was living my best life.
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: I can't even imagine having that sort of fame at 22.
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: And I don't want to assume, but it's almost like
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: stardom before stabilities.
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: Oh, yeah, for sure. Is that a weird way to
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: put it?
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: That must be so weird.
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: That's a great way to put it. It was stardom
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: before stability. I remember going to a concert with Natasha Lyonne.
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: She invited myself and Samira Wiley. And first of all,
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: she paid for the car service. Thank God. Didn't even
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: know I was supposed to tip to say thank you.
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: So sorry to that man.
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: And on top of that, your girl rode up in
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: a headscarf because she didn't have nobody to do her
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: hair and didn't have the money for it. Did my
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: own makeup and it looked cray cray. Had black leggings
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: on that had holes in it. And I didn't realize
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: until later. But I was out here struggling. I was
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: still taking the bus. I was taking the subway and
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: people were running after me, chasing me. I'm not kidding.
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: It was insanity at the time. And we weren't making money.
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: the money to support this new stardom. Yeah.
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: And it's wild too, because you learned that you weren't making,
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: you were making less than the kids on stranger things.
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: Girl. Yeah, we were, we were. And I don't, I
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: can't remember factually all of the things that right now,
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: but I don't know if it was the second season
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: or what, but by my seventh season, I was not
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: making even half of what they would make it.
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: I was reading that you said at the time you
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: felt like you weren't negotiating for yourself enough. But in hindsight,
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: do you still see it as that?
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah. I think there was just fear of being replaceable.
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: This industry makes you feel that way in a heartbeat
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: so quickly, you know, especially with a show about inmates.
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: They could kill you off tomorrow. Even though I was
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: one of the most beloved characters, in hindsight, they would
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: have never killed me. But I didn't know that it's
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: my first series, you know, and the probability, I didn't
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: want to take that chance. And what was more important
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: to me was my stability. I had bills to pay now.
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: I had student loans to get rid of. That was
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: more important to me. And then I also had learned
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: that it's not always the financial benefit that you gain.
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: Sometimes it's the notability. And that's what this show had
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: given me. I mean, the notoriety was crazy. You know,
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: like you said, it was global. And so that's something
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: that was priceless, too. Like you can't really pay for
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: the exposure that a young kid out of Juilliard, just
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: fresh from South Carolina, you know, was able to reach.
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: So they definitely gave me gifts. You know, I think
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: I got paid in a different way.
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: I think back. To myself at 22.
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: Mm-hmm. Talk to me.
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: And I was working in newsrooms. And I think I
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: would have done almost anything to get the job and
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: to do what I wanted to do.
• 21:16
  Speaker 2: Mm-hmm.
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: And so many people.
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: I think we have the same type of energy with that. Mm-hmm.
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: It's just like by any means necessary. Not your integrity.
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: But anything else. And so many news directors said like
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: maybe I should fix my nose or to lose weight.
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: And I was crazy.
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: You're so beautiful.
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: Thank you.
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: That is insane.
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: I think with age, you totally shed all that. Like,
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: I'm so glad I did it now at 35. But
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: at 22, I don't know that I could have said that.
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: I definitely considered it. Did you ever have those moments
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: at 22 and on that show? Were you ever thinking, like,
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: maybe I should do things to be in Hollywood?
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: Yes. I'm not going to say no. I think the
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: show gave me a lot of confidence. Because we were
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: all on the show with no makeup. We all wore
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: the same outfit. Nobody was showing their waistline. You know,
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: it was raw. And the beauty that people fell in
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: love with was ourselves, our core. So that gave me
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: a lot of confidence. But then when I was so
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: blessed to step into these Hollywood rooms like the Emmys, Critics' Choice,
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: and I look around and nobody looks like me, And
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: I couldn't exchange a dress with anybody. That's where, like,
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: my self-confidence started to waver a little bit. Like, am
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: I supposed to be here? Do they want me here? Like,
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: I was starting to feel that way. But that didn't
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: last too long. I think, like you said, with time,
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: you start to grow and you learn and you realize
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: what's really not real. And then you start to realize
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: there is a place for you. Like your uniqueness is
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: what makes you so dope and one of a kind,
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: you know, as we all say so cheesily, your superpower. Right.
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: So I think that's what I've leaned on now.
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: So after Orange is the New Black ended, what was
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: going through your mind? Were you feeling like I'm on
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: top of the world or were you like, oh, my God,
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: what's next?
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: Girl, I was so sad. I was so sad. I mean,
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: that's seven years. That seven means completion, you know? And
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: to be honest, I got super sick my last day
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: because I was pregnant.
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: Did you know?
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: I was pregnant. I did not know. I had a
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: fever out the wazoo. Probably like 101 or something high.
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: And I was pregnant.
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: Mm-hmm. What a blessing.
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: Mm-hmm.
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: You just didn't know it at the time.
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: I didn't know it at the time. Wow.
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: So did you ever wonder what kind of success would
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: come after that, or did things start rolling in?
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: Things were rolling in. I was doing guest spots on
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: a lot of shows. I was on Girls. I was
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: in High Maintenance, Master of None. I was starting to
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: do some things, and I had also done Color Purple
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: on Broadway for a year. So I knew that work
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: was going to be there, but I was missing... what
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: we had built, like the sisterhood. I knew what we
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: had was so special that I don't think I would
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: have ever gotten it again. And I don't think I have.
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: I think there's, I've worked with amazing people and beautiful
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: spirits and dope artists, a lot of dope people, but
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: there ain't nothing like my orange is new black girls. No.
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: Sometimes there's magic that you can't recreate.
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah. So I hope we get to recreate it again.
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: Like I really hope one day we can come back
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: and do something.
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: Really?
• 24:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: Talks between you guys ever to do that?
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: I think we would for sure. I think all of
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: us would want to get paid, though. But yeah, even
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: without the money, like I think a lot of us
• 25:00
  Speaker 2: would come back.
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: Wow. So do you feel like there's a camaraderie or
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: like do you feel supported by your peers in Hollywood?
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: Yes, I do have a great support system. I do
• 25:12
  Speaker 2: feel like you got to find your people, though. But
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: everybody ain't real in this industry. So I found my people.
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: And a lot of them I've known since I was young.
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: And one of them is Corey Hawkins. Octavia Spencer was
• 25:26
  Speaker 2: really there for me during the Oscar run. Rala Davis
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: was really there. Queen Latifah has been a wonderful sorority sister.
• 25:36
  Speaker 2: She invited me to the Tonys to be her date
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: last year. So that was a lot of fun. That's cool.
• 25:41
  Speaker 2: Miss O, for sure. The one and only.
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: You know what's interesting, though? You're really naming a lot
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: of the people who came before you.
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: Which it's so beautiful that they've embraced you that way.
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: But it's interesting. It's not a lot of people your age. Yeah.
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: Yeah. It is interesting. You know, I don't know. You
• 26:03
  Speaker 2: find your people. I got you. Yeah.
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: You said that actor years feel like dog years.
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it did.
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: Is it the work itself? Is it living through the
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: in-between of the jobs? What makes it feel like dog years?
• 26:19
  Speaker 2: I think it was more dog years when I was
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: coming out of school and I had to grind. And
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: you hear so many no's. And every no feels like
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: another year and another year because it's so much work.
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: It was.
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: It felt like, man, this ain't ever going to end.
• 26:37
  Speaker 2: You know, and it's crazy because when I look with perspective,
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: a year is such a short amount of time. But
• 26:44
  Speaker 2: when you're that young, it felt like forever. But I
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: know now, you know, even though I'm in a place
• 26:52
  Speaker 2: where I'm working all the time, there are so many
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: women peers, you know, there's so many peers that might
• 27:00
  Speaker 2: feel that they're still in their dog year moment, you know,
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: especially right now. It's tough.
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: You don't feel that way anymore? No.
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: No, I think I'm in control. Remember when it freed you?
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: What freed you?
• 27:10
  Speaker 2: I think getting Oscar nominated. I really do. Maybe if
• 27:17
  Speaker 2: I really reflected on that question even more, maybe it
• 27:21
  Speaker 2: was a little bit before, but it was something about
• 27:24
  Speaker 2: being Oscar nominated that made me say, yeah, I'm in this.
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: You're in the club.
• 27:30
  Speaker 2: I'm in the club and I ain't going nowhere.
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 27:33
  Speaker 2: Because it ain't but so many black women that get
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: entered into that club. It ain't but so many people.
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: You ain't even got to be black. So I'm really grateful.
• 27:43
  Speaker 2: And I just felt like to be 35, 34 at
• 27:47
  Speaker 2: the time, to be 34 at the time and have
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: my first nomination, I'm like, oh, yeah, I'm here. Because
• 27:55
  Speaker 2: we ain't even got to 40 and 50 and 60 yet.
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: How many are we working up to?
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: What, Oscar nominations? Shoot, I'm trying to get with Jennifer
• 28:04
  Speaker 2: Lawrence and Emma Stone. Where they at? I'm trying to
• 28:08
  Speaker 2: get in that Viola Davis club.
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: So during Orange is the New Black, you won a Grammy.
• 28:13
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: And a Tony nomination for The Color Purple.
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: Yes, ma'am.
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: And you said curiosity helped you land the role of Sophia.
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: You were researching the director, the cast, the music, and
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: the creative team. And it let you walk into that
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: room and have a real conversation. Please explain to me
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: what you mean. I love this.
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: Oh, man. And we're talking about the movie here. I
• 28:38
  Speaker 2: am always staying in a place of curiosity. I don't
• 28:41
  Speaker 2: ever want to stay in a place of I know,
• 28:44
  Speaker 2: you know, and especially because I had played the part before.
• 28:46
  Speaker 2: I think most people would be like, I know, I know, Sophia,
• 28:51
  Speaker 2: I know this part. It's mine, da, da, da, da.
• 28:53
  Speaker 2: But I really was like, I'm going to do the
• 28:56
  Speaker 2: work and I'm going to put my ego to the
• 28:59
  Speaker 2: side because I still had to audition for that part.
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: Were you salty at all about that?
• 29:04
  Speaker 2: Yes, I was salty.
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: Like, that was kind of crazy.
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: It was hard. It was unnecessary. But I did it.
• 29:11
  Speaker 2: And you got it. And I'm so glad I did.
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 29:13
  Speaker 2: Hell yeah, I was salty. I was talking to my
• 29:16
  Speaker 2: friends like, using all kinds of words. But that's not
• 29:20
  Speaker 2: how I'm going to ever show up. Yeah. Because I'm
• 29:22
  Speaker 2: not going to let my ego get in the way
• 29:24
  Speaker 2: of my purpose. And I'm so glad I didn't. Because
• 29:28
  Speaker 2: here we are. And you're getting to say my name
• 29:30
  Speaker 2: with Oscar nominee in front of it.
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: Yes, absolutely. What did the film version ask you that
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: the Broadway version didn't?
• 29:39
  Speaker 2: So... there is a song called Hell No that I
• 29:43
  Speaker 2: sing as Sophia. And in the Broadway version, as an actor,
• 29:48
  Speaker 2: as a person, It was teaching me to say hell
• 29:51
  Speaker 2: no to my fears. But in the movie, it was
• 29:56
  Speaker 2: more about, I've already gotten past the fears. Now I'm
• 29:59
  Speaker 2: stepping into the power. It was something about, I don't know,
• 30:04
  Speaker 2: the words through life experience and more growth in time.
• 30:08
  Speaker 2: It was like a shift into more power of what
• 30:12
  Speaker 2: Sophia was holding. So that was cool to get to
• 30:17
  Speaker 2: in one character and have two different meanings, you know,
• 30:21
  Speaker 2: with nine, 10 years in between, uh, you know, and
• 30:24
  Speaker 2: it's funny.
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: Because like a nomination and a nomination, but you know.
• 30:27
  Speaker 2: When the teacher back in the day was like, you
• 30:29
  Speaker 2: need more life experience. Right. I understand what she was saying.
• 30:34
  Speaker 2: I don't agree with the fact that I needed to
• 30:36
  Speaker 2: leave school to get it, but I do understand with
• 30:39
  Speaker 2: more experience, you're not just using your imagination. Like you're
• 30:44
  Speaker 2: in it. You know what I'm saying? You're, you have
• 30:47
  Speaker 2: experienced and been through some things to understand a character deeper.
• 30:51
  Speaker 2: And I get it now, especially being a mother and
• 30:54
  Speaker 2: a wife, you know, and have lived longer.
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: It's interesting that you mention a song, though, because you
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: didn't even like to sing.
• 31:01
  Speaker 2: I like to sing. I was scared of singing. Oh.
• 31:05
  Speaker 2: I was scared of singing as myself. But I could
• 31:09
  Speaker 2: hide behind a character.
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 31:11
  Speaker 2: That was the thing. So yeah, Danielle, me, not you,
• 31:16
  Speaker 2: was scared of singing as me because growing up in
• 31:20
  Speaker 2: church as a black woman, we are supposed to be
• 31:25
  Speaker 2: like Mahalia Jackson and Tasha Cobbs and Shirley Caesar. Like
• 31:29
  Speaker 2: we supposed to be like these big old voices. And
• 31:33
  Speaker 2: I knew what I was capable of and I knew
• 31:36
  Speaker 2: what others' expectations was. When I got to play, actually
• 31:40
  Speaker 2: play Mahalia and play Sophia, I got to hide. So, yes.
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: You are hitting something. Like, because you, in the past,
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: have played big, bold characters. And so you're right. People
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: expected this big voice out of you, I think.
• 31:53
  Speaker 2: But I could hide. I could be like, okay, Danielle,
• 31:55
  Speaker 2: if you don't come out right, it's not me. It's like,
• 31:59
  Speaker 2: I could use it in the character, you know, versus
• 32:02
  Speaker 2: it be on me. But now I've really, like, shifted. Like,
• 32:06
  Speaker 2: I'm proud of myself. Like, I've sung with, like, Fantasia,
• 32:11
  Speaker 2: and I just sung with Jennifer Hudson as Danielle, not
• 32:16
  Speaker 2: like as a character. So I'm very proud of myself.
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: Did getting the co-sign from Oprah make all the auditioning
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: again worthwhile?
• 32:25
  Speaker 2: Hell yeah. Hell yeah. Because the co-sign was so much
• 32:29
  Speaker 2: different from the first one. Like when we did the Broadway,
• 32:32
  Speaker 2: it felt so ensemble-ish. But this felt so personal. And
• 32:37
  Speaker 2: when she called me, Like in that Zoom, I was like,
• 32:43
  Speaker 2: it was really a surprise. I had no idea. And
• 32:46
  Speaker 2: it was two days after my birthday or a day
• 32:48
  Speaker 2: after my birthday that I got the call, which is
• 32:51
  Speaker 2: kind of like the anniversary. It's coming up. That was like, wow.
• 32:56
  Speaker 2: I still smile like a big kid. Like I'm cheesing
• 33:00
  Speaker 2: because it was a memory I'll never forget.
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: I'll never forget when the video of Whoopi telling you,
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: You are everything that we want a great to be played.
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: Because I saw how emotional you were in that moment.
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: What did it feel like to have Oprah and Whoopi,
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: two women who had traveled the road before you, say
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: those things to you?
• 33:25
  Speaker 2: I still can't believe it. I think this is when
• 33:29
  Speaker 2: you start to tap into little Danny. Like that hiding
• 33:35
  Speaker 2: behind a chair and is like, me? you're calling me
• 33:38
  Speaker 2: to the front? And they're like, yeah, you, you got something.
• 33:45
  Speaker 2: That is trippy. You know, that makes me emotional. I
• 33:50
  Speaker 2: just never, I always knew, like God had planted something special.
• 33:56
  Speaker 2: I knew there was more for me. That little awkward
• 33:59
  Speaker 2: black girl that just is probably made fun of for
• 34:04
  Speaker 2: loving theater too much, you know, and I don't know,
• 34:08
  Speaker 2: that just wasn't perfect at all. Wore like these ugly
• 34:13
  Speaker 2: ass Walmart clothes. Like, you know, hand-me-down type clothes. And
• 34:17
  Speaker 2: my hair, I used to say my hair looked like
• 34:20
  Speaker 2: I had worms in it. And they were like a
• 34:23
  Speaker 2: rabbit's bow or tail because I had a bush, you know.
• 34:28
  Speaker 2: That these greats would see me that way. You know, this... Girl,
• 34:36
  Speaker 2: they didn't have as much confidence. Yeah, I'm very proud. Yeah.
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: I love that you said called to the front.
• 34:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's what it feels like. Yeah.
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: What meant more, their support or the Oscar nom?
• 34:53
  Speaker 2: Which one?
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: Their support or the Oscar nomination?
• 34:56
  Speaker 2: Girl, that's a good question. I don't know. Can I
• 35:02
  Speaker 2: say that it's a tie?
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: Yes.
• 35:04
  Speaker 2: It's a tie. For that, it's fair.
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: Yes.
• 35:06
  Speaker 2: To be co-signed by Whoopi and Oprah or an Oscar nomination,
• 35:12
  Speaker 2: it's a tie. Yeah.
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: You know, you do have this way of.
• 35:28
  Speaker 2: You do ask great questions, by the way. Thank you.
• 35:31
  Speaker 2: You really do.
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: Thank you.
• 35:33
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: I have a very generous guest.
• 35:35
  Speaker 2: Hey.
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: But when I watch you on screen, you have this
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: way of breaking through emotional barriers. And you did it
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: in Orange is the New Black. You did it in
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: The Color Purple. I just got to see your newest film,
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: If I Go, Will They Miss Me?
• 35:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: And you do the same thing there.
• 35:52
  Speaker 2: Wow. Wow.
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: When you need to tap into that kind of emotional range,
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: are you tapping into something you learned at Juilliard or
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: are you tapping into something deeply personal?
• 36:02
  Speaker 2: That's a great, great question. I'm not tapping into something
• 36:07
  Speaker 2: at Juilliard. I'm using the skills that they gave me,
• 36:10
  Speaker 2: which were if you need to tap into personal experiences,
• 36:15
  Speaker 2: do so. But you also have to learn how to
• 36:18
  Speaker 2: release it. Hmm. And so that's kind of how I operate.
• 36:24
  Speaker 2: I feel people's stories so deeply. Like if you share
• 36:29
  Speaker 2: something deep with me, it will stay with me. And
• 36:32
  Speaker 2: when the time came for me to tell a story
• 36:34
  Speaker 2: that was in line with what you shared, it's the outpour.
• 36:40
  Speaker 2: It just is. So think about it. I have played
• 36:43
  Speaker 2: an inmate for seven years, right, on Orange. That's just
• 36:47
  Speaker 2: one role that I played. I played Mahalia Jackson. who
• 36:51
  Speaker 2: was in the civil rights movement and dealt with everything
• 36:54
  Speaker 2: that she was dealing with, Sophia being abused, right? Just
• 37:00
  Speaker 2: going to Orange is the New Black, think about how
• 37:02
  Speaker 2: many stories I actually heard of inmates and what they
• 37:06
  Speaker 2: went through, the research of that, the research of Mahalia,
• 37:09
  Speaker 2: the research of women that have been abused. So I'm
• 37:14
  Speaker 2: carrying all of that with me on top of my
• 37:18
  Speaker 2: own experiences, On top of what my mama shared, my
• 37:21
  Speaker 2: besties have shared, I'm just so well, like I'm just flowing,
• 37:27
  Speaker 2: you know, it's just all there. I think the thing
• 37:30
  Speaker 2: is just like the Juilliard part has been learning the dial,
• 37:34
  Speaker 2: how to dial it up, how to dial it down.
• 37:38
  Speaker 2: That's what I think the gift they've given me. Because
• 37:40
  Speaker 2: I'd just be a hot mess in the comedy. I'd
• 37:42
  Speaker 2: be crying.
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: I just feel this character.
• 37:47
  Speaker 2: I feel this character. I know I'm supposed to be laughing, but.
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: Everybody has lots of sides to them.
• 37:53
  Speaker 2: I know.
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: You know, this character was more inward, more quiet. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: And I'm curious if you personally feel more like this
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: character or more sort of like the big, bold ones
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: that we've seen you play in the past.
• 38:08
  Speaker 2: Probably the big, bold ones.
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 38:10
  Speaker 2: I mean, there is quietness that lives inside me, for sure.
• 38:15
  Speaker 2: There are moments where I do have to bite my
• 38:18
  Speaker 2: tongue and choose my words wisely, you know. And there's
• 38:26
  Speaker 2: a lot of myself in Lozita, for sure. But where
• 38:29
  Speaker 2: I like to live is in the vivaciousness and the
• 38:33
  Speaker 2: joy and the fun and, you know, the bigger than life.
• 38:38
  Speaker 2: I do like to live. But I think I'm in
• 38:40
  Speaker 2: the middle, you know. Yeah. But more so probably the, huh?
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: It's the dial.
• 38:48
  Speaker 2: The dial.
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: Yes.
• 38:50
  Speaker 2: The dial. Yeah.
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: You said that you did this movie for spiritual gain.
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: I thought that was such an interesting choice of words.
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: What were you looking to fulfill?
• 38:58
  Speaker 2: I'm a creative. And every project that I get is
• 39:03
  Speaker 2: not going to fulfill that. A lot of them don't.
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: Some fulfills your pocketbook.
• 39:11
  Speaker 2: Danielle Gifford. And there's respect in that, too, because then
• 39:18
  Speaker 2: I would not be able to do movies like this.
• 39:21
  Speaker 2: You know, I wouldn't. So I am grateful for my blockbusters.
• 39:26
  Speaker 2: Thank you, Warner Brothers. Warner Brothers, thank you. all of
• 39:31
  Speaker 2: you netflix all of you guys um but it helps
• 39:35
  Speaker 2: for me to be able to do independent projects that
• 39:38
  Speaker 2: really do fuel me and i do believe that they
• 39:42
  Speaker 2: are changing the world this is one of those films
• 39:45
  Speaker 2: for sure hands down.
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: We talked about juilliard um I so love the story
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: about how you got to Juilliard, that it was not
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: just you. Will you share that with people?
• 39:56
  Speaker 2: The story of how I got to Juilliard was.
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: Back.
• 40:03
  Speaker 2: I went to this high school called the Governor's School
• 40:05
  Speaker 2: for Arts and Humanities where I had to audition. Auditioned,
• 40:08
  Speaker 2: got in at 15. We live on campus. It's one
• 40:12
  Speaker 2: of those places. So they were doing this thing where
• 40:15
  Speaker 2: the kids, all of us could apply for a... internship
• 40:19
  Speaker 2: with Bravo, the network. They were doing something called Bravo
• 40:21
  Speaker 2: on the set for the kids. And they would take
• 40:25
  Speaker 2: one child and their parent to New York for this
• 40:28
  Speaker 2: week intensive. So me and my dad got to go
• 40:31
  Speaker 2: because I got in. And during the weekend, my father
• 40:35
  Speaker 2: had taken me to see a Broadway show. And I'm
• 40:39
  Speaker 2: so grateful that he was smart enough to take me
• 40:42
  Speaker 2: to a show where people that looked like me. And
• 40:45
  Speaker 2: that was the color purple. And that was at 15.
• 40:48
  Speaker 2: I was taken aback by seeing over 20 plus black
• 40:54
  Speaker 2: people being great. Oh, my gosh. And the set, they
• 41:00
  Speaker 2: took us to Africa. They put two little black girls
• 41:04
  Speaker 2: in a tree. I will never forget that. Them singing, hey, sister,
• 41:08
  Speaker 2: what you gonna do? Going down by the river, gonna
• 41:10
  Speaker 2: play with you.
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: I said, what the hell is going on?
• 41:14
  Speaker 2: Because back at home, they just got black boxes. They
• 41:17
  Speaker 2: be just playing in a black box with black boxes,
• 41:20
  Speaker 2: like in black outfits. Like, what is this? I was
• 41:24
  Speaker 2: so amazed. And so I got to work and I
• 41:29
  Speaker 2: started to audition for colleges. And at the time, my
• 41:33
  Speaker 2: beautiful godmother was dying from cancer. And that was tough
• 41:41
  Speaker 2: because she passed away. And when she passed away, what
• 41:44
  Speaker 2: I did not know after getting into conservatory was that
• 41:48
  Speaker 2: she had left $ 20, 000 in her will for me. And
• 41:51
  Speaker 2: we needed that $ 20, 000. I was the first child. My
• 41:56
  Speaker 2: parents were doing the best they could, you know. And
• 42:00
  Speaker 2: she helped to move the needle for me. And I
• 42:05
  Speaker 2: got to stay and start my first semester because of
• 42:08
  Speaker 2: her sacrifices. financially. So that's how I got to Juilliard
• 42:14
  Speaker 2: and I worked super hard to finish there. And then
• 42:19
  Speaker 2: I made a conscious effort to give it back. So
• 42:22
  Speaker 2: I started a scholarship under her name called the Annie
• 42:25
  Speaker 2: Edge Scholarship. And now this past year turned it into
• 42:28
  Speaker 2: a competition, a monologue competition for the kids in South
• 42:31
  Speaker 2: Carolina back at home. And so now they are doing monologues.
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: Which is funny because you didn't know what a monologue was.
• 42:37
  Speaker 2: Girl, I know. You did your homework, honey. I did
• 42:40
  Speaker 2: not know what a monologue was when I auditioned. I
• 42:44
  Speaker 2: auditioned with a sonnet because they put that in the description.
• 42:48
  Speaker 2: It was like, you got to do a sonnet. I
• 42:49
  Speaker 2: didn't know what a sonnet was. Googled it, got a sonnet.
• 42:53
  Speaker 2: And then I used a poem from this guy who
• 42:55
  Speaker 2: used to have a poetry book at the church. But
• 42:58
  Speaker 2: the poetry was like stories. Like they were monologues to me.
• 43:02
  Speaker 2: And so I used that. And the teacher on the
• 43:05
  Speaker 2: spot said, your daughter's getting in to the high school.
• 43:09
  Speaker 2: So I got into the high school. The only black
• 43:11
  Speaker 2: girl in my class. Thugged it out and made it work.
• 43:16
  Speaker 1: When you brought your family to the Oscars, Were you
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: trying to say something about your success and who it
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: was due to in that moment at all?
• 43:26
  Speaker 2: Oh, for sure. Like, I think to pay respect to them,
• 43:30
  Speaker 2: anytime that I have a first that big, mama and
• 43:33
  Speaker 2: daddy going to be there. Mommy and daddy and my
• 43:36
  Speaker 2: brother was there, too. He's younger than me. My husband
• 43:40
  Speaker 2: was there. Freya was there. It was really, really special.
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. It was just like so many people had
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: invested in your dream and then their investment had paid off.
• 43:50
  Speaker 2: Yes, yes. My mom was probably my biggest advocate. Like
• 43:55
  Speaker 2: my mom is the one who found all of these
• 43:59
  Speaker 2: programs that were free for me to attend in Greenville.
• 44:03
  Speaker 2: You know, these arts education programs. She found those, you know,
• 44:07
  Speaker 2: and my daddy helped too. He took me to them,
• 44:10
  Speaker 2: you know. He was the one who told me, I
• 44:15
  Speaker 2: know your mama don't like this Orange is New Black idea,
• 44:18
  Speaker 2: but go follow your heart. And I did Orange is
• 44:21
  Speaker 2: New Black.
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: Are you comfortable needing people still? Because I think the
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: roles changed a little bit. You have a lot of
• 44:28
  Speaker 1: weight on your shoulders now.
• 44:30
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I definitely have a lot of weight on my shoulders,
• 44:33
  Speaker 2: but I feel like I'm very supported. I think it's balanced,
• 44:39
  Speaker 2: a yin and a yang in all of it. I
• 44:41
  Speaker 2: think there's been sacrifices that my family has made for
• 44:45
  Speaker 2: me yeah but I think there's a lot of sacrifices
• 44:48
  Speaker 2: that I have made as well I'm very big into
• 44:51
  Speaker 2: memories and so I just try to like give back
• 44:55
  Speaker 2: to them in memories so let's go to the Oscars
• 45:00
  Speaker 2: or you know if I'm on a press tour like
• 45:01
  Speaker 2: I'll take my brother to London like come with me
• 45:04
  Speaker 2: get your passport together you know like that's big for
• 45:08
  Speaker 2: me why memories because that's all we gonna have at
• 45:10
  Speaker 2: the end of the day you can't die in a
• 45:14
  Speaker 2: your funeral with a Gucci bag, you can, but okay,
• 45:18
  Speaker 2: ain't going to take you nowhere. You know what I'm saying?
• 45:21
  Speaker 2: But a memory, that's something that will last forever and
• 45:25
  Speaker 2: it can be passed on. That to me is, that's,
• 45:28
  Speaker 2: that's everything. Like you just don't forget that.
• 45:32
  Speaker 1: Yeah. That's beautiful.
• 45:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Memories are big for me. Like let's, let's make
• 45:37
  Speaker 2: some fun memories over, you know, I do like to
• 45:40
  Speaker 2: shop now.
• 45:41
  Speaker 1: I do.
• 45:41
  Speaker 2: I do like to shop.
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: Well, you get to do both. Yes.
• 45:44
  Speaker 2: Now I get to do both. I didn't always get
• 45:46
  Speaker 2: to do both.
• 45:47
  Speaker 1: You earned it. You love to question everything as a kid.
• 45:52
  Speaker 1: And now I'm learning as an actor, too. But I
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: can tell that your relationship with God matters profoundly to you.
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: I was actually laughing because I was listening to some
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: of your interviews and I called my producer and I
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: was like, she has to be a preacher's kid. And
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: then we Googled and we were like, her mom is
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: a minister and a teacher. It flows through you.
• 46:12
  Speaker 2: Are you a preacher's kid?
• 46:13
  Speaker 1: I'm not.
• 46:14
  Speaker 2: But you just knew, huh?
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: I felt it in not just your faith, but in
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: the way that you spoke about it.
• 46:22
  Speaker 2: Yes. Yeah.
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: It's so deep.
• 46:24
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 46:25
  Speaker 1: Is your faith deep because you questioned it?
• 46:29
  Speaker 2: I didn't want to question my faith. I think that's
• 46:32
  Speaker 2: the whole point. I don't want to question my... I
• 46:33
  Speaker 2: want life to be easy. Yeah. You know, but things happen...
• 46:38
  Speaker 2: in life that make you have to have faith. And
• 46:42
  Speaker 2: I've had experiences that have forced me to put my
• 46:47
  Speaker 2: faith to practice. You see what I'm saying? Yes. I
• 46:50
  Speaker 2: don't want faith. I mean, I do want faith, but
• 46:53
  Speaker 2: I want peace. Like, that's my ultimate, you know what
• 46:56
  Speaker 2: I'm saying? But I'm glad I have faith to get
• 47:00
  Speaker 2: me to that.
• 47:01
  Speaker 1: Is there one of those moments that sticks out to you?
• 47:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I did not get... the movie version of the
• 47:07
  Speaker 2: piano lesson. And that was hard for me. And I
• 47:12
  Speaker 2: was really questioning God. I just didn't understand. I had
• 47:16
  Speaker 2: done it on Broadway. I had done a good job
• 47:19
  Speaker 2: on Broadway. I'm wonderful to work with, but that job
• 47:22
  Speaker 2: wasn't for me. And it made me question God. And
• 47:28
  Speaker 2: the way things were handled made me want to quit.
• 47:33
  Speaker 1: Really?
• 47:33
  Speaker 2: Really. I had moments of wanting to just say, why
• 47:38
  Speaker 2: am I doing it? Because my joy was being taken away.
• 47:41
  Speaker 2: The thing that I love more than anything.
• 47:43
  Speaker 1: Because you didn't feel valued?
• 47:45
  Speaker 2: I didn't feel valued. I didn't feel respected. I think
• 47:49
  Speaker 2: you hit it on the mark. It was the value thing.
• 47:54
  Speaker 2: It wasn't transparency. You know, it was a lot of
• 47:57
  Speaker 2: things at the time. But that's when my faith was...
• 48:04
  Speaker 2: push to the ultimate test. And I think I passed
• 48:08
  Speaker 2: because I wanted to do, say things, you know, but
• 48:13
  Speaker 2: I knew that wasn't going to get me anywhere. And
• 48:16
  Speaker 2: so I walked myself through that. God holding my hand
• 48:20
  Speaker 2: through that. The next thing you know, I was Oscar nominated.
• 48:26
  Speaker 2: So I just, at that point where we talked about earlier,
• 48:30
  Speaker 2: I'm letting the journey do its thing, baby. And that's
• 48:32
  Speaker 2: what I learned more than anything. You know, I could
• 48:35
  Speaker 2: feel undervalued and disrespected and all these things. And there's
• 48:39
  Speaker 2: lessons in that, too. But you just got to trust
• 48:42
  Speaker 2: the path. Yeah. And that's what I think I did.
• 48:46
  Speaker 2: I think I passed the test.
• 48:47
  Speaker 1: Your daughter seems like a questioner also.
• 48:50
  Speaker 2: Oh, my gosh. Girl, the first thing she say before
• 48:53
  Speaker 2: asking a question is, Mommy, I got a question. Mommy,
• 48:57
  Speaker 2: I got a question. Like, just ask the question, girl.
• 49:00
  Speaker 2: Why you always got to say I got a question?
• 49:03
  Speaker 1: At least she has questions.
• 49:04
  Speaker 2: Girl, that is the biggest thing she says. Mommy, I
• 49:07
  Speaker 2: got a question for you. What's your question?
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: Well, I have a question. Because I know on intermission,
• 49:15
  Speaker 1: you ask people about the origin of their names. Yeah.
• 49:18
  Speaker 1: Which I love so much. I do that. I don't
• 49:21
  Speaker 1: know why, but I just think it holds so much meaning. Yeah.
• 49:24
  Speaker 1: Why'd you name her Freya?
• 49:26
  Speaker 2: Oh, well, long story long. We wanted a D name.
• 49:32
  Speaker 2: Dennis is my husband's name. Daniel is mine. My brother's DJ.
• 49:35
  Speaker 2: We Ds. And if you.
• 49:37
  Speaker 1: Have the gold jewelry anywhere, I have gold Ds that
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: I need to pass on.
• 49:41
  Speaker 2: Right? I had an anklet. That's a D. I love
• 49:45
  Speaker 2: your anklets. All that, right? But they weren't matching. We
• 49:50
  Speaker 2: just was not liking Delight and Delilah. No, we weren't
• 49:54
  Speaker 2: feeling it. So we said, get it. Delicious, right?
• 49:57
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 49:59
  Speaker 2: So we let that go and we opened it up.
• 50:01
  Speaker 2: And then I met this kid in L.A. on the elevator.
• 50:05
  Speaker 2: And he was a fan. I said, what's your name?
• 50:09
  Speaker 2: Like real wisdom. What's your name, son? No, I'm just kidding.
• 50:12
  Speaker 2: And he said his name was Chosen. I said, that's deep.
• 50:17
  Speaker 2: You wake up every morning talking about you, Chosen? That
• 50:20
  Speaker 2: is fire.
• 50:21
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 50:21
  Speaker 2: So I tell my husband, he's looking at names. He's like,
• 50:24
  Speaker 2: what you think about free? Say less. Say less. Yeah.
• 50:31
  Speaker 2: And we went with Freya. Because growing up, being in
• 50:35
  Speaker 2: a very churchy household, you know, religious home, I didn't
• 50:40
  Speaker 2: always feel free. Yeah. You know, there was a lot
• 50:43
  Speaker 2: of perfectionism going on, you know. And so I was
• 50:47
  Speaker 2: very happy to gift her with that.
• 50:52
  Speaker 1: Does being her mom show you areas where you still
• 50:56
  Speaker 1: aren't free?
• 50:57
  Speaker 2: Yes. Yes. It does.
• 51:00
  Speaker 1: Parenthood seems like.
• 51:02
  Speaker 2: It does. Because you always care what your parents think
• 51:05
  Speaker 2: about you, even if you try to act like you don't.
• 51:08
  Speaker 2: You care. When your mom is like, why'd you wear
• 51:11
  Speaker 2: that dress? Yes. Whatever, woman. And you still like, dang,
• 51:15
  Speaker 2: why'd she feel that way? Why? So there are moments
• 51:18
  Speaker 2: where I feel not free. And that's when I look
• 51:20
  Speaker 2: at her and I say, I don't want to treat
• 51:22
  Speaker 2: her that way. I want her to know, where would
• 51:26
  Speaker 2: you want to go ahead? You're going to look tacky,
• 51:29
  Speaker 2: but go ahead. I'm going to rock with you.
• 51:35
  Speaker 1: Is there anything that you hope she doesn't have to
• 51:38
  Speaker 1: fight for that you did?
• 51:41
  Speaker 2: I mean everything when it comes to, like, respect. I do.
• 51:47
  Speaker 2: You know, a little girl pulled her hair the other
• 51:48
  Speaker 2: day at school. And I was like, it was so mean.
• 51:53
  Speaker 2: You know, Freya didn't do anything to warrant that. But
• 51:57
  Speaker 2: I know that I'm not going to be able to
• 51:59
  Speaker 2: stop her from every fight in her life. All I
• 52:02
  Speaker 2: can do is give her the skills to handle them.
• 52:05
  Speaker 2: So that's what I'm working on. But it's challenging as
• 52:09
  Speaker 2: a parent, you know, to see your kid go through
• 52:11
  Speaker 2: things and experience things, even if they're only six. Because
• 52:15
  Speaker 2: I can't imagine 16, you know, but we made it
• 52:18
  Speaker 2: through and we're making it through.
• 52:20
  Speaker 1: Yeah. It's her life journey to make it through.
• 52:22
  Speaker 2: It's hers, man.
• 52:24
  Speaker 1: It's hard, though. Danielle, at the beginning of our conversation,
• 52:26
  Speaker 1: you mentioned all of the things that you had done.
• 52:29
  Speaker 1: You said cartoons, et cetera. You've done DC Universe, animation,
• 52:34
  Speaker 1: family films, intimate dramas. Will you feel freest when you
• 52:38
  Speaker 1: finally get your rom-com?
• 52:39
  Speaker 2: Girl, yes. Honey, they are letting all of this sexy
• 52:44
  Speaker 2: just go to waste.
• 52:46
  Speaker 1: I think so, too.
• 52:46
  Speaker 2: Girl, I am so ready.
• 52:48
  Speaker 1: Can you paint the picture? What's it going to be like? Wow.
• 52:52
  Speaker 1: Who's directing? Who's your co-star? What's happening?
• 52:55
  Speaker 2: I don't know. I don't know. It has to be
• 52:58
  Speaker 2: a woman director. Okay. Because I just need that energy
• 53:02
  Speaker 2: in the space, right? I was supposed to do this
• 53:07
  Speaker 2: romantic film with Andre Holland. And I wouldn't mind running
• 53:11
  Speaker 2: that back because I'm upset about it. He's just such
• 53:15
  Speaker 2: a great actor.
• 53:16
  Speaker 1: What's Mufasa's name?
• 53:19
  Speaker 2: Oh, girl.
• 53:21
  Speaker 1: What's his real name?
• 53:22
  Speaker 2: Aaron. Aaron Pierre. That would be yours.
• 53:26
  Speaker 1: Can I cast Aaron Pierre?
• 53:28
  Speaker 2: You could cast Aaron Pierre. Go ahead, cast him.
• 53:31
  Speaker 1: I feel like that's who every woman is casting opposite
• 53:34
  Speaker 1: of their rom-com.
• 53:35
  Speaker 2: Hey, hey, that's yours?
• 53:37
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 53:37
  Speaker 2: You're here for some air? Yeah. Yeah, I don't... Hey,
• 53:41
  Speaker 2: just plug in Hot Man. Okay. I want to do it.
• 53:46
  Speaker 2: I want to do it so bad. Enter hot men.
• 53:49
  Speaker 2: It don't have to be one. It can be like
• 53:51
  Speaker 2: a chase.
• 53:53
  Speaker 1: What part of you still hasn't entered public life?
• 53:55
  Speaker 2: What you mean?
• 53:57
  Speaker 1: Like, do we get to see all of you? Because
• 53:59
  Speaker 1: we haven't seen Danielle in a rom-com yet, which is
• 54:01
  Speaker 1: your work.
• 54:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 54:02
  Speaker 1: But have we seen all parts of you?
• 54:05
  Speaker 2: Girl, I think so. I'll be at the laundromat. Your
• 54:08
  Speaker 2: girl be at Wally World, honey. I told them people
• 54:12
  Speaker 2: at Publix, I said, let me tell you something. I'm
• 54:14
  Speaker 2: going to be up in here. So get used to it.
• 54:17
  Speaker 2: The workers know me, okay? Like, if that's what you mean,
• 54:21
  Speaker 2: you've seen all of me. You've seen the homegirl, Danielle.
• 54:27
  Speaker 2: You've seen the actress, Grammy, Oscar, la, la, la, Danielle.
• 54:32
  Speaker 2: You've seen that. Like, I feel like I've shown all sides.
• 54:36
  Speaker 2: And I think with my podcast, The Intermission, I'm showing
• 54:39
  Speaker 2: even more sides of myself that have been a little
• 54:43
  Speaker 2: scary to share.
• 54:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 54:45
  Speaker 2: But I do feel like we do have to share.
• 54:48
  Speaker 2: We have to share parts of ourselves with each other.
• 55:04
  Speaker 1: You know, I think when you don't see yourself in
• 55:07
  Speaker 1: a room a lot, you become like a symbol for
• 55:10
  Speaker 1: a lot of people. And there's so much hope in that.
• 55:13
  Speaker 1: And I can imagine there's so much weight in that
• 55:16
  Speaker 1: for you. Do you feel that at all? Or do
• 55:19
  Speaker 1: you ever just want to walk into a room and
• 55:22
  Speaker 1: not represent something?
• 55:25
  Speaker 2: Yes, there are times. I think the way I look
• 55:29
  Speaker 2: at representation has been a little bit more expansive than
• 55:34
  Speaker 2: most might see. I think, yes, it starts with the physical.
• 55:38
  Speaker 2: It can. But I think it's bigger than that. I
• 55:42
  Speaker 2: think we connect with who we connect with. We see
• 55:45
  Speaker 2: ourselves through who we see ourselves through. And it doesn't
• 55:48
  Speaker 2: have to be the physical. And so that's what I'm
• 55:51
  Speaker 2: thriving for is that part of humanity that when you
• 55:56
  Speaker 2: watch my work, you feel and tap into that. Do
• 56:00
  Speaker 2: I feel a weight? I still do. Doing things like
• 56:04
  Speaker 2: Peacemaker was a dope experience. I don't like being the
• 56:10
  Speaker 2: only black woman. You know what I mean? Like, no,
• 56:15
  Speaker 2: it's not fun. Okay.
• 56:18
  Speaker 1: Before I let you go, you have an upcoming project
• 56:21
  Speaker 1: that brings you back to partnering with Oprah.
• 56:23
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 56:24
  Speaker 1: You're going to be playing Melba in American comfort, which
• 56:26
  Speaker 1: is a story about the iconic Harlem restaurant in New York. Uh,
• 56:31
  Speaker 1: so I want to end with a callback because when
• 56:33
  Speaker 1: you first met Oprah, you couldn't do much more than
• 56:35
  Speaker 1: wave at her from the corner. Yeah. And now you're
• 56:39
  Speaker 1: leading projects with her.
• 56:40
  Speaker 2: When she put it like that, I'm just like, girl,
• 56:44
  Speaker 2: say it again. Say it again.
• 56:46
  Speaker 1: Now you're leading projects with Oprah Winfrey. What version of
• 56:51
  Speaker 1: Danielle is showing up now?
• 56:53
  Speaker 2: Oh, what version of myself? Wow, the confident one. The
• 56:59
  Speaker 2: one that is way more sure of herself. That is
• 57:02
  Speaker 2: a great feeling to be sure of yourself.
• 57:05
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 57:06
  Speaker 2: To be able to stand on 10 toes and know
• 57:09
  Speaker 2: who you are. And that's what I learned. I don't
• 57:11
  Speaker 2: need nobody's validation. I know who I am. I know
• 57:17
  Speaker 2: whether Oprah will be, they know it or not. Danielle
• 57:21
  Speaker 2: Brooks knows it. And that is all that matters. And
• 57:24
  Speaker 2: that is all I want to pass on to my
• 57:26
  Speaker 2: daughter or anybody listening to.
• 57:29
  Speaker 1: Thank you for that.
• 57:31
  Speaker 2: Thank you, Danielle.
• 57:33
  Speaker 1: I'm going to give you some rapid fires.
• 57:34
  Speaker 2: Oh, I love rapid fire. Okay.
• 57:36
  Speaker 1: The color orange or the color purple?
• 57:39
  Speaker 2: Oh, color. God dang. Color purple. Okay.
• 57:46
  Speaker 1: Who would win in an argument? Sophia, Tasty, or Danielle?
• 57:50
  Speaker 2: Sophia, for sure.
• 57:51
  Speaker 1: The last thing you said hell no to.
• 57:54
  Speaker 2: Hell no to this bisque off pudding that I just had. Sorry.
• 58:01
  Speaker 2: I didn't tell you I had it. It was so disgusting.
• 58:04
  Speaker 2: It was so gross.
• 58:06
  Speaker 1: We're going to do cupcakes and figure that out. Urkel
• 58:09
  Speaker 1: or Stefan?
• 58:16
  Speaker 2: Stefan.
• 58:17
  Speaker 1: Who's funnier, Cameron Diaz or John Cena? Dang.
• 58:23
  Speaker 2: I'm going to go with John Cena. I spend more
• 58:27
  Speaker 2: time with him.
• 58:28
  Speaker 1: The co-star that makes you break character the most?
• 58:30
  Speaker 2: I would probably say Jack Black.
• 58:35
  Speaker 1: He's so fun.
• 58:35
  Speaker 2: He's hilarious.
• 58:37
  Speaker 1: Okay, India Ari solo or Beyonce with your girls?
• 58:40
  Speaker 2: Solo. India Ari, for sure. Love you, B, though. Love you,
• 58:44
  Speaker 2: for real. But, yeah.
• 58:46
  Speaker 1: Me, too. Okay, divine timing or Virgo planning?
• 58:49
  Speaker 2: Ooh-wee. Girl, these questions are good. Divine timing or Virgo planning?
• 58:56
  Speaker 1: That's a hard one for you. Yes. I know. I'm sorry.
• 58:59
  Speaker 2: I'm in the middle. I can't answer that. I can't.
• 59:03
  Speaker 2: I'm in the middle.
• 59:04
  Speaker 1: You get both.
• 59:05
  Speaker 2: Okay. Thank you.
• 59:06
  Speaker 1: Who would survive the amazing race? You and Uzo or
• 59:08
  Speaker 1: you and Natasha Lyonne?
• 59:10
  Speaker 2: Me and Uzo Natasha would make it a day trash
• 59:14
  Speaker 2: be like if you don't send me back to my
• 59:15
  Speaker 2: hotel room or I'm just gonna go hang out at
• 59:18
  Speaker 2: the Eiffel Tower she is not Mia Zorwin, for sure.
• 59:23
  Speaker 1: The character that you want to be known for?
• 59:26
  Speaker 2: Oh, the character that I would want to be known
• 59:28
  Speaker 2: for the most? I don't know. I don't know. I
• 59:32
  Speaker 2: love all of them. I love all of them. I
• 59:36
  Speaker 2: can't pick. This ain't it. I'm sorry.
• 59:39
  Speaker 1: I just think, like, I don't know. If I were
• 59:41
  Speaker 1: an actor, I would always think about, like, At the
• 59:44
  Speaker 1: Oscars one day when I die and they play that
• 59:47
  Speaker 1: whole thing.
• 59:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 59:48
  Speaker 1: And you're like, what's going to be the scene that
• 59:50
  Speaker 1: everybody cries?
• 59:52
  Speaker 2: That's such a good way to look at it.
• 59:54
  Speaker 1: I think that's the role.
• 59:55
  Speaker 2: Okay. Sophia. Okay. That's a good one. But if it
• 59:59
  Speaker 2: was the Emmys, tasty. There you go. You get two. Thanks.
• 1:00:04
  Speaker 1: Okay. Not that I'm wishing that.
• 1:00:06
  Speaker 2: My girl. Yeah. We saying a lot.
• 1:00:08
  Speaker 1: Yeah. We saying a lot.
• 1:00:09
  Speaker 2: We saying a lot.
• 1:00:10
  Speaker 1: What's harder to hear? No or not yet?
• 1:00:13
  Speaker 2: Harder to hear?
• 1:00:13
  Speaker 1: No. A question you hate being asked or a question
• 1:00:16
  Speaker 1: that you wish people would ask you?
• 1:00:19
  Speaker 2: Girl, these are fun and hard. Question I love being
• 1:00:24
  Speaker 2: asked or hate being asked. I hate when people ask
• 1:00:26
  Speaker 2: me to run down my resume. So what you do?
• 1:00:30
  Speaker 2: So tell me what you did. What you do for
• 1:00:32
  Speaker 2: a living?
• 1:00:34
  Speaker 1: Go to IMDB.
• 1:00:36
  Speaker 2: I had to tell a woman that she got really
• 1:00:38
  Speaker 2: salty with me. And I did not care. She about
• 1:00:42
  Speaker 2: cussed me out. And I was like, I'm sorry, I
• 1:00:46
  Speaker 2: am not doing this. It would be so braggadocious of
• 1:00:49
  Speaker 2: me if I did, ma'am. I'm not doing it. Child.
• 1:00:55
  Speaker 1: Okay, intermission or outer validation?
• 1:00:58
  Speaker 2: Intermission.
• 1:00:59
  Speaker 1: Pick your rom-com leading man, Aaron Pierre or Damson Idris.
• 1:01:04
  Speaker 2: Andre Holland. I love that you.
• 1:01:08
  Speaker 1: Look off like you're asking for a friend. No one
• 1:01:10
  Speaker 1: can help you here.
• 1:01:10
  Speaker 2: Andre Holland. I want Andre or Brian to read Henry
• 1:01:15
  Speaker 2: or go take me back to J.L. Fonz, my co-star,
• 1:01:18
  Speaker 2: and if I go, will they miss me? Yeah.
• 1:01:21
  Speaker 1: He's so good.
• 1:01:22
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so good.
• 1:01:23
  Speaker 1: Okay, a book that changed your life.
• 1:01:25
  Speaker 2: I liked A Thing Like a Monk, Jay Shetty. I
• 1:01:28
  Speaker 2: really enjoyed that book. And The Bible. The Bible. When
• 1:01:31
  Speaker 2: you talk about changing my life, I would say that's
• 1:01:35
  Speaker 2: probably the number one book.
• 1:01:38
  Speaker 1: What's something that every woman should try once?
• 1:01:40
  Speaker 2: Try once? A vibrator. Try it. Something called Tracy's Dog.
• 1:01:49
  Speaker 2: Try it.
• 1:01:51
  Speaker 1: Thank you for that. I wasn't expecting that.
• 1:01:56
  Speaker 2: I know. I'm a little spicy, too.
• 1:01:58
  Speaker 1: Mm-hmm. Okay, you have to pick a card, whichever one
• 1:02:03
  Speaker 1: calls to you.
• 1:02:03
  Speaker 2: Okay. And you're going to answer it.
• 1:02:06
  Speaker 1: No, no, you have to answer it.
• 1:02:07
  Speaker 2: Okay, okay.
• 1:02:08
  Speaker 1: This is your interview.
• 1:02:09
  Speaker 2: I love these, by the way. These are so cool.
• 1:02:12
  Speaker 2: I cannot wait to buy them as gifts. Question everything. Okay.
• 1:02:16
  Speaker 1: Thank you, Danielle.
• 1:02:18
  Speaker 2: Well, this is perfect. If you had to rate yourself
• 1:02:21
  Speaker 2: in bed, what would you give yourself out of 10
• 1:02:25
  Speaker 2: and why? I would say I would give myself a 9.
• 1:02:29
  Speaker 2: I am really good in bed. I have tricks. And yeah,
• 1:02:36
  Speaker 2: I take my time. I know speed levels. The reason
• 1:02:41
  Speaker 2: I would not give myself a 10 is because I
• 1:02:43
  Speaker 2: can no longer do a split.
• 1:02:47
  Speaker 1: But you used to be able to?
• 1:02:48
  Speaker 2: Yes. I had to retire them.
• 1:02:53
  Speaker 1: Post kids?
• 1:02:55
  Speaker 2: No, before kids. I was on. Lip sync battle against Uzo.
• 1:03:02
  Speaker 2: That's so funny. And I decided to pop a split
• 1:03:05
  Speaker 2: without stretching, and I have never seen them again. They're gone. Wow. Yeah.
• 1:03:11
  Speaker 2: So I would give myself a nine.
• 1:03:13
  Speaker 1: I love how honest you are.
• 1:03:15
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I wish it was a 10, but it's not happening.
• 1:03:18
  Speaker 1: I feel like your husband would give you an 11.
• 1:03:19
  Speaker 2: Hey, okay. I think he might want to.
• 1:03:27
  Speaker 1: Danielle Brooks, I knew you were going to be so
• 1:03:30
  Speaker 1: soulful and insightful, but I did not know you were
• 1:03:33
  Speaker 1: going to be this funny. I have to tell you,
• 1:03:35
  Speaker 1: I enjoyed every minute of that. Thank you.
• 1:03:37
  Speaker 2: Thank you, Danielle. You're an amazing host.
• 1:03:40
  Speaker 1: Thank you.
• 1:03:40
  Speaker 2: Thank you.
• 1:03:46
  Speaker 1: Okay. You know what time it is. Today's a good
• 1:03:49
  Speaker 1: day to have a good day. I'll see you next week.
• 1:04:11
  Speaker 2: Thank you.