Quinta Brunson Says She Got Into Comedy Just to Make Her Older Brother Laugh
March 17, 2023
Quinta Brunson is one of the leading women in comedy making the world laugh, but the multi-hyphenate says she only first got into comedy to entertain those closest to her.
The “Abbot Elementary” creator and actress appeared on the March 17 episode of “The Jennifer Hudson Show” to discuss the success of her ABC sitcom and how she first got into comedy.
Quinta is the baby of her family and the youngest of five kids. “My name means five,” she explained to Jennifer Hudson during her appearance.
“I was nuts,” she said of what she was like growing up. “I was a good kid, but I was active, I was rambunctious.”
“All my siblings were significantly older than me, so I wanted to be with them, I wanted to connect with them.”
“That’s when I first kinda fell in love with comedy,” Quinta told JHud. “I felt like making them laugh was the best thing I could do to be close to my closest brother, who’s eight years away from me.”
“I would watch him watch ‘Ace Ventura,’ and I was like, ‘I could do the talking butt thing, too, if that’s what it takes to make you happy.’”
“He really didn’t like me because he was the baby for a long time, and then I came around and he was not happy,” she said. “So I felt like if I could mimic ‘Martin’ and ‘In Living Color’ that he would like me a little bit more.”
Unsurprisingly, Quinta was able to win her brother over. “It worked! We’re very close now,” she said.
She was bombarded by love from her whole family the instant she won the Golden Globe for Best Television Actress — Musical/Comedy Series.
“I didn’t write a speech down because I said I didn’t think I would win, so I didn’t write anything,” she said, adding, “You shouldn’t do that. You should have something written.”
After her “Abbott” co-star Tyler James Williams won Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series, Quinta began to consider the possibility that she might win in her category, and she started to jot down some names to thank in her phone.
“I had to open my phone, but my mom, dad, cousins — I have 50 million cousins, I have so much family — they’re just texting me nonstop, so I couldn’t even read what’s on my phone,” she recalled.
“I just started making stuff up, making up names,” she said. “You shouldn’t take your phone onstage when you’re accepting an award.”
Quinta shared that she recently participated in Fashion Week, showing up at the runway show of the designer of her Golden Globes dress, Christian Siriano.
“That was my first Fashion Week. It was so fun, so cool,” Quinta said. “I didn’t know I’d be sitting next to Julia Stiles and Lindsay Lohan!”
The star, who is 4’11”, said, “I feel good kinda getting to go represent the short girls in the fashion world.”
“The Jennifer Hudson Show” airs weekdays. Here’s when to watch in your area.
