Quinta Brunson is one of the hottest names in Hollywood at the moment. Apart from an awkward episode between her and Jimmy Kimmel at the Emmy Awards on Monday night, she won the award for “Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series.”
It was in fact the first time that Brunson had been nominated for an Emmy, or any of the very top awards in the industry for that matter. This year, her hit mockumentary sitcom Abbott Elementary from ABC was nominated in five categories, including three for the creator herself.
Apart from Brunson’s win for best writing, her co-star on the show Sheryl Lee Ralph also won, in the category “Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.” The 65-year-old is said to have originally wanted a different role than the one she plays on the show.
Ralph credits Brunson for sticking to her guns and assigning her to her current character. “She may be tiny, but she is truly mighty as our creator. Quinta Brunson – that’s a name to remember,” Ralph was quoted saying recently.
8 Where Did Quinta Brunson Grow Up?
Quinta Brunson was born on December 21, 1989, in West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is the last born in a family of five. It is this status that influenced her name Quinta, which translates to fifth in Spanish.
Brunson and her siblings were raised in West Philly still, by their mother Norma Jean Brunson, a kindergarten teacher. Norma’s career would no doubt serve partly as future inspiration for Abbott Elementary.
7 Quinta Brunson Has Had An Interest In Comedy Since High School
Quinta Brunson attended Charter High School for Architecture & Design, where she first caught the bug for comedy. She took an improv class to hone this interest, and her journey to the top officially kicked off.
“In high school I had an obsession with comedy no matter what form. From Martin to Anchorman to Chaplin, I was obsessed — that was the first sign that I wanted to be in the arena,” she told Vulture Magazine in 2020.
6 Quinta Brunson Quit College To Pursue A Career In Media
After her time at Charter High, Quinta Brunson started her higher education journey when she joined Temple University in Philadelphia. She was only there for about two years, however.
Brunson’s path then took her to L.A., and out of the city where she had lived her entire life. “I felt like I needed to be in one of those cities that treats those fields as a business,” she said in an older interview with Philadelphia Magazine. “Because if not, I wasn’t ever going to make any money. And I wanted to make money. I’m not going to lie.”
5 Quinta Brunson Also Took Dancing Classes
As well as comedy, Quinta Brunson also took dancing classes earlier on in her life. She explained the details of those lessons to ESPN in 2018, as well as the impact that they have had on her latter work.
“I took ballet, tap, modern and jazz growing up,” recounted Brunson. “Through dance, I learned that I enjoyed stage performance.”
4 Apart From Abbott Elementary, What Other Major Work Has Quinta Brunson Done?
Quinta Brunson writes episodes of Abbott Elementary from time to time, but she is actually one of the main stars of the show as well. Affable teacher Janine Teagues is just the latest character that the 32-year-old has played, however.
Brunson was also part of the regular cast on HBO’s A Black Lady Sketch Show, where she was also part of the writing team. Since her breakout into Hollywood, she has also featured in New Girl, iZombie and Miracle Workers.
3 Which Project Is Quinta Brunson Most Proud Of?
When Quinta Brunson did the Vulture Magazine interview in 2020, she referenced some of her oldest work as the most she took pride in. The actress started out doing comedy bits on Instagram, before then landing a role to do similar work for BuzzFeed.
Brunson might give the same answer if asked the question today, but her Emmy win for Abbott Elementary might make it all the more difficult to choose those early projects.
2 Is Quinta Brunson Married Or Single?
Quinta Brunson has done an impressive job of keeping her personal life away from the prying public eyes so far. It is known, though, that she said “I do” to her lover Kevin Jay Anik in September 2021, after the two got engaged in July 2020.
Brunson and Anik are often spotted together whenever she is attending red carpet events.
1 Quinta Brunson Is Also A Football Fan
Like many people from her native Philly, Quinta Brunson is a keen follower of the NFL. Unsurprisingly, she supports the Philadelphia Eagles and uses that as her way to connect to the city even when she is away.
“[Repping Philly from afar means] supporting the Eagles,” she said in her conversation with PhillyMag. “That’s when all the people from Philly in L.A. kind of get together.”