Danielle Brooks

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“I want to design clothes that I wish I could have worn when I was a teenager.”

“Sometimes I need a slower pace, to slow my mind down and just be with nature, go outside.”

“I don't drink coffee, but I do try to find a way to get some chocolate in every day.”

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

“I love 'Insecure.' I want to play Issa Rae's sister. I do know Issa Rae, but we ain't besties or nothing.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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've always said that actor years is like dog years: it feels like forever when you're not working.”

“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 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.”

“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.”

“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.”

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

“In South Carolina, there's a lot of arts programs. So I was blessed enough to go to the Governor School For Arts & Humanities.”

“I've gotten rejected a lot.”