Quinta Brunson
Appearances
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
I feel like she goes, you look... exactly like Holly Berry. And like, it was like, no, you don't. But she believes she does. And I think that's sweet. I think when the character believes so deeply that the show doesn't care what the audience thinks. That was a challenge with Janine because I'll be real with you. You know, she's a black character.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
Black audiences have so few still representative characters on the screen. And Black womanhood alone is so touchy. So when a lot of women were seeing Janine not present as they wanted her to, that became tough. And I understand it, but I think it's important for us to have characters who are more realistic than they are the absolute best representation of us.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
I think it creates layers for us, not only on TV, but in the public eye. When I was thinking about her, I wasn't really thinking about representation, but she became representation. I don't know if you dealt with that with, like, Leslie Knope.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
Like, we're on this ride with her. And it's sometimes... I think it's hard to get people on the ride because they don't know they're on the ride. And I think Abbott really started where I was like, this is going to be a ride. And I feel like that goes into thinking about things. This is going to go for seasons. I want to tell stories here. We got to start. We got to start somewhere.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
We cannot end, you know, where we want to get to in season 10. And I think when audience members don't know they're on a ride, it can be very frustrating for them. And maybe this wasn't always the case before the internet, but. Now, I don't know if you dealt with this on Parks. I have had people come up to me on the street and go, I don't like what you're doing with Gregory's character.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
What? It's insane. It's become a real direct, like, and oh, and then that person went, I messaged you on Instagram about it.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
She really came to me in a club, mind you, like very much like, oh, I'm so glad I'm seeing you. I sent you an Instagram message. I like how you pretended you didn't see it, but now I got you in person. I don't like what you do.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
BuzzFeed was interesting because it was so international that people You were aware that like, oh man, like people in Japan are watching our stuff. We're being dubbed in different languages. So you were aware of that. But for me, I was never very proud of my online presence. I felt like as someone who came from improv and sketch, I was still performing at I.O. every night.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
And then I realized that my improv group, we realized people were coming to see our group. Because of my online presence. And we were more used to, all right, guys, we got 10 people in the crowd tonight. Let's go crazy. That's three more than last week. We're killing it.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
It's so good. And then all of a sudden, we have a packed I.O. for, we're like, what is going on? But they're coming because... They're actually paying attention when I post. I have a show at I.O. tonight. And, like, people were coming. I was like, what are these people doing here? And they're like, you said you had a show.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
I was like, oh, you get so used to no... I don't know, but you were part of, like, the heyday of UCB. But I'm just saying, like, in my world, it was like, if you got eight people in the audience, it was like... Oh, a hundred of those are always trying to get people.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
I came to just appreciate it as another stage. If you can get on a stage and do stand-up, get on an improv stage and do improv, why can't you make a video to... Isn't that what we want to do as performers anyway?
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
Absolutely. Absolutely. That's what it really did for me. I had taken writing courses. I had studied comedic writing. But I do think writing for BuzzFeed was the best way to learn how to do it for massive audiences, which is a skill that I still see writers learn. peers. Hmm. They don't technically teach you that in school.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
Yes. Absolutely. Which is so freeing. Yeah. It makes you a more collaborative person and makes for better work. And I think so BuzzFeed definitely did that. We made, which was insane. We would make like three videos a week that were going to be shared and seen by like millions and millions of people. And if one bombed, it was like, I'm already on my next video.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
Yeah, literally. I can't remember half the things I made there, which is both good and bad. But I feel like you probably can't remember half the sketches you did.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
Oh, no. I lost my glasses. Oh, are you just getting glasses? Oh, I got scared.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
No, it's cute. That's how the girl puts it on in the Sephora commercial.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
No way! Yes! Did Kate freak out? She's the best. She loves you so much. Did she pretend she was super cool?
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
No! Zach. Which one? Evans. Stop! These are people who probably were freaking out, Amy. They seemed very cool. They seemed cool because they probably got it together first, but you need to know that this probably... And then your old boss, Andrew.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
French last name. He's so hot, guys. Not a pro. I don't work for him anymore. I can say that.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
um abbott and my memory is shit there's something to know about me same really bad i think it's because we have to learn lines i think so too kate's memory is locked the fuck in and kate was like no no no no no i will go into that courtroom for you because she was there the the moment i had i knew that it wasn't true but i had nothing to back it up and it's okay that's why we have lord i was never gonna have to back it up anyway but i'm just like damn i cannot remember
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
Kate, like, remembers time, date, where, when. Incredible. Incredible. So she's my best friend, but she's also just incredible for stuff like that. She has the memory that I don't have, which I need a lot.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
Oh, that's a good question. Oh, man, that's such a good question. I don't know what they do for me specifically.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
For each other. Yeah. And maybe Kate and I particularly have been through so much together as friends, as women, as comedy writers.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
Shut up. Don't go through Amy to do that. That's not nice, Kate. That's not okay, Kate. But can we- That's not okay, Kate. Are you aware that Bon Jovi is- Yes, I know that. Okay. I don't know white people. I know you. I know Tina Fey. I know- That's it. I know white people in comedy. Okay? Okay.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
You don't need to know. I just like don't know some people. I don't. I understand the name Phil Collins. I don't know what Phil Collins look like. I don't know that he's different from. Sorry to that man. That Kiki moment. Unbelievable. Was so on point.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
That is how I move through life. If they're not in comedy, truly.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
It's okay. And also, you were working in pop culture, too. I mean, SNL is still essentially working in pop culture. I don't have a reason to know who... crazy. It's crazy to be in a band called John. Is he John Bon Jovi's band? See? She doesn't know. I couldn't tell. And it's crazy because now.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
You know, everything you just said sounds crazy. And the thing is, I'm supposed to know this, but then I'm supposed to deal with people who can't tell me and Kiki Palmer apart. Or say my name or can't. I just can't. If you know about Bon Jovi and I'm too difficult. It's two syllables. Quinta. Same person. I don't understand. Anyway, so that was that was. And I don't. You know what else is crazy?
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
John, wait. I lost my point, but I was going to say something about Jon Bon Jovi.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
I understood that. I understand that. You know who I got mixed up for the longest time? Not anymore. Not anymore. But there was no reason for me as a young girl in Philadelphia to understand the difference between Sandra Bullock and Julia Roberts. There was no reason for me to know the difference.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
I do. I do. I do have that. And they know. I know what Sandra knows now because that's my girl. Of course, I can tell you guys apart now. But growing up, no reason for me to know that. And when people are like, you don't know. No, I don't.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
Oh, Andrew. Andrew's so lovely. I think 2014... Me would be like, exactly, period. Because I was a very determined, knew where I was going. Girl, I do not like to do that thing where people pretend like I had no idea. Like, this could happen to me? Like, no. I made every single move in my life so that this could happen to me. Including leaving Philadelphia. I knew specific things had to happen.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
And even the way I came into BuzzFeed, I had vision. I was like, I... see where this place is going. I see what I can do here. I see how not only it can help me, but how I can help it. And I think it's a means to something much larger. So 2014 me didn't exactly know this, but I think that's the beauty of vision. You can... feel, see something, you're working in accordance with something.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
Whether it's coordinated or he really, really meant it, very smart to do. Smart kid. That alone had me. Me too. Had me and In a way that I don't care if it was like, I'm going to say this because, or I genuinely really mean it. Because even if you were going to say it because, yeah, just say it because. Because mention Viola Davis. A hundred percent.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
The lights, the cameras. I just tripped and then I was here. I can't believe it. I'm not doing that. One thing I love about, I've always appreciated about you is you also do that without sacrificing your sense of, like, whimsy.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
you have you I don't know you just you still have fun and you don't apologize for that either and I think that's really cool when I went to see you and Tina um at the in Vegas and that was so fun because actually Ash and Kate came with me and I told you that was like our Super Bowl but you tried you you did what I would storytelling stand-up and seeing you do new things.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
I was like, yes, yes, yes. You are not apologizing for the fact that you have this show or all the things that you've done, but you also are having enough fun with trying new things and you just have fun. Like you have a smile on your face.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
You're supposed to keep trying. I think I have seen a lot of other women who are in similar positions Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
Thank you. ,,,,,,,,. P P P P P P 19實,實, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , in gera a ,,,, Whatever. I get six foot men, but nothing wrong with the... I think you identify as tall.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
I do. That's why getting picked up throws me off so much. Yes. Because I do identify as tall, and that's a break in reality for me. It is. I really feel like... My cat feels super tough. He thinks he runs shit, and then I pick him up, and he's like... Whoa, whoa, whoa, hey, don't be picking me up. I run this house. No, you don't. I can pick you up.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
So that's why it throws me off when someone picks me up because I'm just like, oh.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
I regret to say that there's these videos online. I don't really watch TikTok.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
I just don't. I never really. So there's these videos, I'm learning, of this cat. And I don't like it because it's AI.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
Hold on. I got to check this out. And he, like always, he starts his day. Okay, already. Okay. He starts his day.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
And he always begins his day, he wakes up and he decides, he goes to the market and he buys some vegetables. And then he goes and finds, are you looking at him? No, hold on. Oh, this cat? Yeah. Okay, so we'll put him up here. So he will find a friend, like a chicken or a rabbit. He's finding a chicken in this one. Is he? And so what he does, and then he cooks the chicken.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
But he always, he drugs them first. He invites them over for a drink, and then they drink it, and they pass out. He's drugging these friends.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
Yeah. And then he cooks them and he eats them. And he even has a little funeral for them after he cooks them. And it's like, you killed them. And he has a friend, the lion, who he calls over to eat. Because I think the lion is the only apex predator in his life because he cooks and eats. Sometimes he drops a bomb in the ocean and then he kills a shark. He has shark meat that day.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
And the caption is always like, I was in the mood for something different today. Or the caption's like, met a friend today. And you think it's going to end well this time? Nope. He cooks whatever. One time he met a crocodile and was like, this is seeming like a budding friendship. Now he's in jail. He's in jail. There are consequences, but his friend the lion always bails him out.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
Sometimes he whacks someone over the head and then he eats them. But sometimes they get them back. Like this fox whacked him over the head once. And I was like, finally, this cat is getting what he fucking deserves. This little fucking maniac. But then he calls the lion. The lion comes and whacks the fox. They have fox for dinner that night.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
I watch every single one. Because I don't look up anything else on TikTok, my algorithm is just this cat. And every time I'm like, I hope this little bastard gets what he wants. But then when he is in the hospital, I'm very scared. I'm like, please. He goes to the hospital. Please let him leave. Yeah, because he really gets beat up sometimes.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
Yeah, and so he changes sizes, too, throughout scenes. And it's like, why in this scene are you bigger than the lion? I'm interested in how he perceives himself to other animals. And he saves a baby every once in a while because you see him saving a baby. He doesn't eat the baby, does he? He doesn't eat the baby. The first time he saved a baby, though, I thought he was going to eat that baby.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
And I think that's like him being like, see, I'm cool. But no, you are a psychopath. You are drugging other animals and eating them. And so that's... Yeah. That's how you escape.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
And it's AI, so it gets it wrong a lot. And it also makes me feel good. I have a friend, Ash, actually told me. Ash told me that Ash has a friend that works in AI. And that person was like, look, The day AI really figures it out, the day everyone should be really scared, Alzheimer's will also be solved.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
And I was like, oh, because if AI can really get that close to how our brains really function, we will have then also had the keys to figure out Alzheimer's. And so that brings me comfort and it brings me fear because— I like what you just said.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
I'm grateful you are here and that you were born and that you exist. I'm grateful that you were born. What day were you born? I was born December 21st, 1989. Capricorn. Sagittarius. Oh, shoot. I'm directly on the cusp. Okay. Directly on it. So you're not wrong because some books do say Capricorn and then so much on the cusp. I'm right at like 1138 or something. I asked my mom.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
She was like, I don't know what time you were born. I was like, okay, sorry for asking. But she said it was between like 11.30 and 12, so directly on the cusp, which is good because I think if I was full-blown Sagittarius, I would have been a stripper. I think if I was full-blown, nothing wrong with it, but I'm just saying that I would have been a stripper.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
And then if I were a Capricorn, I would have been Elon Musk. I would have been really like...
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
No, I hope that changes. I do. And I do admire the other sitcoms that are out there maintaining. They don't grasp the same kind of attention that Abbott does, but I do think there are other producers and showrunners out there attempting to do good work, specifically on network television. There's a show Ghost on CBS that has a bigger audience than we do.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
It just doesn't garner the same attention, so I just always try to acknowledge that there are other shows trying, but I do also understand that Abbey occupies a very unique and specific space. So, you know, it's funny because we're four seasons in now, and I really want, like, counterparts. You know, I want... I live for a renaissance. I don't enjoy the feeling of St. Dennis is a show on NBC.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
And I feel like that. But so much of this and maybe I don't know if it was like that back then, but so much of it is about timing and when and presentation. And so much goes into making something an overall success now that. I don't call myself lucky because I think about all the things that go into it.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
But I do think you have to think about so many different factors to make your show a success at all now.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
Coach was a show that was very formative for me. I forgot. My mom and I, we loved Coach. And it just reminded me how much Coach was on in my household. That was like, if that was on, we were stopping and we were watching. I'm not sure if it was on Nick at Night yet, but that was a big show for me. Mary Tyler Moore. Yes. King of Queens, very big for me.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
I just, I don't know why, but one of the biggest influences in my life. I still love that show to this day. 30 Rock, huge.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
It's so ridiculous. It's great. A little show called Parks and Rec. The Office, of course. Martin. Living Single. Curb Your Enthusiasm. I don't know if that counts because it's not network, but Always Sunny. Same kind of bucket as Curb Your Enthusiasm. I'm forgetting things.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
And that's exactly what happens on Abbott. Definitely. That's a big part of it. And I think it's important if I can see the end of their journeys in the sitcom. And I don't know. That doesn't mean I know when it's going to come, but I see, maybe that's just important for writing. You know, you see a destination for your characters, but very important to me when it comes to making a sitcom.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
When I visit sitcoms like Parks or The Office and I think about where those characters began and where they end, that is what kind of inspired me to tell that story about a different set of characters. I also think like, Worlds you can – that really have a day-by-day engine, you know? Like, there's something – there's some silly thing.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
I would say Friends was huge for me, too, because it was when I started to really grasp onto plot lines that were so, you know, Monica lost her earring. I think that was, like, big for me for some reason when – it was like, you can make a whole plot, but that's, like, a day-to-day of a friend group in –
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
That's what happens in Abbott, just day-to-day issues that we turn into hilarious conundrums and situations.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
Janine started in a place where I think a lot more about Janine than I think shows up on screen, which honestly is what you want. I don't need the audience to think about her as much as I do. But I knew from the beginning this is a girl who had a weird relationship with her mother. Maybe her mother didn't teach her how to like take care of her hair.
Good Hang with Amy Poehler
Quinta Brunson
Or even her dress comes from... I want to be the opposite of my mother because I don't think my mother's a good person, so I should dress like a good person, which is the opposite of how she dresses, which is kind of... But Janine doesn't believe it's slovenly or bad. Janine looks in the mirror and goes, this is a good outfit. You did it, girl. You did it, girl. You did it. You did it.