Quinta Brunson on Abbott Elementary and season 3 plans
Quinta Brunson is a force to be reckoned with. The YouTube personality-turned-producer-and-actress is the award-winning mind behind Disney+ show Abbott Elementary. Funny and feel-good, the sitcom follows the work and personal lives of teachers at an American public school, dishing out both tongue-in-cheek and hilarious one-liners courtesy of both staff and students.
Quinta, 33, hails from Philadelphia, US – where the series is set – and is no stranger to the limelight, after becoming a viral sensation as ‘The Girl Who's Never Been On A Nice Date’ YouTube series, later producing and starring in countless videos for BuzzFeed’s YouTube channel.
Now, Quinta and Abbott Elementary have been nominated for and won multiple Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG Awards, and amassed a loyal fanbase for the comedy since its release two years ago.
Thanks to its The Office-esque looks to camera, more than 10 million viewers tuned in for the show’s second season premiere. And with a star-studded cast including Tyler James Williams and Janelle James, Abbott Elementary is a stand-out mockumentary for the entire family to laugh at until you cry.
So, with season three of the series officially confirmed, Cosmopolitan UK sat down with Quinta to learn more about her inspirations behind the show, awards season and plans for the future.
Firstly, biggest congratulations on your wins this awards season! Now you’ve had some time to process, how are you feeling?
I'm feeling great. During awards season, we were in production, so there's not a lot of time to take in what's happening. We were at the Golden Globes on Sunday night, then filming at 5am on Monday morning. So, this downtime has allowed me to be happy. One thing that helps me to process it in real time is watching my co-stars win. That always makes me emotional and want to cry, as I realise that we've done something special.
More recently, I did an episode of Sesame Street, and for some reason, walking onto that set helped everything settle in for me. I was like, ‘Wow, I made this show, and people really like it like it, even Sesame Street!’.
Abbott Elementary follows teachers and staff at a public school as they manage day-to-day school life, despite the odds being stacked against them. What first inspired you to create this series?
I thought that it would make a good comedy. My mother was a teacher and I spent so much time with her in school. I was in her class in kindergarten and went to the school where she taught for the next five years. So, I saw the behind the scenes. When I went to college and moved out to LA, I had so much time away from it, so when I went to go visit my mother again, it helped me to see the familiarity of a place I knew like the back of my hand. I saw the comedy in this place as well as the hardships and I felt it made for a good TV show.
People love the show. What’s been the best thing you’ve been told by a viewer?
My favourite thing to hear is that people watch it together as a family, hands down. If someone says, ‘I watch it with my mother who's 60 or 70 and my kid who's 20 or eight’. One of the main reasons I wanted to make this show was because I wanted to make something for multigenerational viewing, because I felt that so much of TV just wasn't that anymore. There’s not many shows you can find that you can watch with your parents and your kids and still really enjoy it.
We love the relationship between Janine and Gregory and the will-they-won’t-they element. What are some of your favourite relationships in the show and why?
Janine and Barbara, who have been there since the very beginning. Barbara is someone who is inching towards retirement but is still as good at this job and has a lot to teach Janine. Barbara never signed up to be Janine’s mentor, but she is, so, I love that relationship.
I love Janine and Gregory, too. There's Janine and Gregory as teachers in relation to the rest of this school, and then in relation to each other. I know it's my show so I shouldn't say this, but they are two of my favourite characters of all time, because I think they're just so meaty and flawed, but fun. I just love them deeply.
I also love Barbara and Melissa. My mum always had a friend at school that she could count on and was her ride-or-die, and there was a woman who Melissa is based off of who was my mother's friend during the years before she retired. I just think those friendships are so important in schools.
The show was recently renewed for its third season. What are your plans for Janine and her co-workers? Would you be up for doing more seasons, too?
It's always just about more growth. The school is the epicentre of this show and is what brings all these characters together, so I think it's going to be fun to play with and attack that a little bit. In the second season, we really see them coming together as a crew to decide to protect the school they've all come love and make it a better place.
So, next season, I think it'd be fun to ask what happens when people have the opportunity to go on to bigger and better things and make massive change, so that's what I'm interested in playing with.
Definitely, [I would do] a fourth season! And more should we be fortunate to do more. But, I'm not going to tell you what I see for the end, because then you won’t watch!
You’re set to make your debut as Saturday Night Live host next month. Do you have anything in store that you can share with us?
Just that I'm really excited! I was booked weeks ago and I couldn’t believe it, I was in absolute shock and could not breathe. For any comedy kid, SNL is your dream so that knocked me off my rocker. I have friends who work there so I’m excited to work with them. I had to hold it in for so long, and I’m so shocked to have this opportunity.
WATCH NOW Abbott Elementary is streaming on Disney+ now.
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