--- name: "Quinta Brunson" canonical: "https://film.one/person/quinta-brunson" fi1m_id: "quinta-brunson" imdb_id: "nm6708435" tmdb_id: 1745988 wikidata_id: "Q59522684" roles: ["Actor"] born: "21 December 1989" reviewed_on_fi1m: 4 average_fi1m_score: 71 average_as: "actor" average_over: 4 updated: "2026-10-19T04:23:48.751693+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Quinta Brunson ## Identity Quinta Brunson - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/quinta-brunson - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** quinta-brunson - **IMDb ID:** nm6708435 - **TMDB ID:** 1745988 - **Wikidata ID:** Q59522684 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinta_Brunson, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q59522684, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm6708435/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1745988 Actor. Born 21 December 1989 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 21 December 1989, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA - **Active:** 2021–present - **Golden Globes:** 1 Golden Globe (1 won) - **Average Fi1m score:** 71, as actor, over 4 titles - **Fi1m against the critics:** 76 to 76 across 3 titles - **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 1 under 60 - **Lead roles:** 1 of 2 acting credits billed first or second - **Genres:** Comedy 4, Animation 2, Adventure 1, Family 1, Music 1, Mystery 1 - **Screen time:** 4 hours of reviewed films - **Box office:** $1,868m across 1 films with figures - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinta_Brunson, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q59522684, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm6708435/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1745988 ## Coming up - *The Cat in the Hat* (2026-11-04), as Sherri (voice) — [page](https://film.one/film/the-cat-in-the-hat.md) ## Streaming the US now - **Disney+:** [*Abbott Elementary*](https://film.one/tv/abbott-elementary.md) (82), [*Zootopia 2*](https://film.one/film/zootopia-2.md) (70) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Quinta Brunson > Quinta Brunson writes optimists who can hear themselves, and plays one. *Abbott Elementary* took a mockumentary form most people thought worn out and made network comedy quicker and warmer than it usually bothers to be; the question now is what she does outside its walls. Janine Teagues looks at the camera. Everyone in *Abbott Elementary* (2021) does, because a documentary crew is following the staff of a West Philadelphia elementary school through the year, but Janine's look is the one the show is built on: a second-year teacher who has just said something hopeful and is checking whether the crew believes it. Quinta Brunson writes the line and plays the check. That is her trick, and it is a good one. The glance at the lens was worn to a reflex by *The Office* and *Parks and Recreation*; Brunson picked it up anyway and found it still worked if the person glancing could hear herself. She arrived from the internet. Short Instagram videos from 2014, among them *Girl Who Has Never Been on a Nice Date*, led to BuzzFeed, web series and guest parts in *New Girl*, *A Black Lady Sketch Show* and *Miracle Workers*, before *Abbott Elementary* began in December 2021 and has run since, into 2026. The film work is a sideline: a cameo as Oprah Winfrey in *Weird: The Al Yankovic Story* (2022), and Dr Fuzzby in *Zootopia 2* (2025), the counsellor who makes Judy and Nick sit down and talk about their partnership. It is a small part and a neat one; the person who built the sitcom is now the one the other characters are sent to. What she is best at is the ensemble. The teachers are drawn from real educators, and it shows in how little they need to explain themselves. Sheryl Lee Ralph and Janelle James keep the show sharp when Janine's cheer threatens to soften it, and Tyler James Williams's Gregory, a substitute who wanted the principal's job and did not get it, does the best face on the show, a man deciding each time whether it is worth speaking. Brunson writes generously for all of them, which is rarer than it sounds in a creator who also plays the lead. She has said she is making television "for a white grandma in Kansas" as much as for anyone, and the show's manners bear that out: the building is falling down and nobody delivers a speech about it. Janine herself is the risk. We spent the first season half exasperated by her and wholly on her side, because Brunson lets her hear how she sounds a beat before we do, and that is what saves an optimist from being a bore. She does not always save her. Our review said the lead can wear on you, and that the scenes with Gregory are given more time than the situation can bear, and both are still true; the later seasons run long and the edges have rounded. Justin Halpern shares the running of the show, but Brunson creates, writes and stars, and a load like that leaves little room for anything else. So the question is not whether she can do this. It is whether she can leave the building. Nothing she has made outside Abbott is yet more than a visit, and a writer this exact about one workplace ought to be curious about another. ## Biography Quinta Brunson is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer. Born on 21 December 1989 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she studied at Temple University and trained in improv at Second City in Chicago before moving to Los Angeles in 2013. She first gained attention with her viral Instagram series The Girl Who Has Never Been on a Nice Date and subsequent work at BuzzFeed Video. Brunson created, co-wrote, executive produced and stars as Janine Teagues in the ABC series Abbott Elementary (2021–present). She has received multiple Emmy Awards, including for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series and Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, becoming the first Black woman to win the latter in over 40 years. Her film credits include roles in An American Pickle (2020), Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022) as Oprah Winfrey, and voicing Dr. Fuzzby in Zootopia 2 (2025). She has also provided voice work for series including Big Mouth, Harley Quinn and The Simpsons. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, primetimer.com, deadline.com, biography.com, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (4) - *Kevin* (2026), Fi1m 56, as Franny (voice) — [page](https://film.one/tv/kevin.md) - *Zootopia 2* (2025), Fi1m 70, as Dr. Fuzzby (voice) — [page](https://film.one/film/zootopia-2.md) - *Weird: The Al Yankovic Story* (2022), Fi1m 77, as Oprah Winfrey — [page](https://film.one/film/weird-the-al-yankovic-story.md) - *Abbott Elementary* (2021), Fi1m 82, as Janine Teagues — [page](https://film.one/tv/abbott-elementary.md) ## Complete filmography (27) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *The Cat in the Hat* (2026), as Sherri (voice) — coming soon, [page](https://film.one/film/the-cat-in-the-hat.md) - *Kevin* (2026), series, as Franny (voice) — Fi1m 56, [page](https://film.one/tv/kevin.md) - *Zootopia 2* (2025), as Dr. Fuzzby (voice) — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/film/zootopia-2.md) - *The Studio* (2025), series, as Quinta Brunson — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-studio.md) - *History of the World: Part II* (2023), series, as Martha Magdalene - *Weird: The Al Yankovic Story* (2022), as Oprah Winfrey — Fi1m 77, [page](https://film.one/film/weird-the-al-yankovic-story.md) - *Cars on the Road* (2022), series, as Ivy (voice) - *Abbott Elementary* (2021), series, as Janine Teagues · Executive Producer, Writer, Creator — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/tv/abbott-elementary.md) - *As of Yet* (2021), as Lyssa - *An American Pickle* (2020), as Female Interviewee - *Harley Quinn* (2019), series, as Hawkgirl (voice) - *A Black Lady Sketch Show* (2019), series, as Various Characters, Hair Fighter - *Lazor Wulf* (2019), series, as Blazor Wulf / The Youth · Writer - *Miracle Workers* (2019), series, as Trig, Administrator - *Single Parents* (2018), series, as Bess - *Quinta vs. Everything* (2017), series, as Quinta · Executive Producer, Writer - *Big Mouth* (2017), series, as Girl (voice), Quinta (voice) - *Broke* (2016), series, as Miloh · Creator, Writer, Executive Producer - *iZombie* (2015), series, as Dr. Collier - *New Girl* (2011), series, as Annabelle — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/tv/new-girl.md) - *Party Down* (2009), series, as Jaff — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/tv/party-down.md) - *It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia* (2005), series, as Janine Teagues - *The Simpsons* (1989), series, as Adrienne (voice) — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-simpsons.md) - *Sesame Street* (1969), series, Actor - *Par for the Course*, Writer, Producer, Idea - *Golden*, Actor - *Untitled Betty Boop Movie*, as Betty Boop (voice) · Producer ## Gallery - ![Quinta Brunson](https://film.one/media/person/7627/gallery-9052157a7727.jpg) Quinta Brunson — Kevin Paul, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ae/Quinta_Brunson_at_Televerse_2026.jpg/1280px-Quinta_Brunson_at_Televerse_2026.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Quinta Brunson](https://film.one/media/person/7627/gallery-b9a977ab3bbb.jpg) Quinta Brunson — Image via TMDB - ![Quinta Brunson](https://film.one/media/person/7627/gallery-c71f10109815.jpg) Quinta Brunson — Image via TMDB - ![Quinta Brunson](https://film.one/media/person/7627/gallery-ffa1c74ca59c.jpg) Quinta Brunson — Image via TMDB ## Awards ### Golden Globes — 1 won - 2023: Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy (won), for *Abbott Elementary* ### Primetime Emmy Awards — 1 won - 2023: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series (won), for *Abbott Elementary* ### Other awards — 2 won - Crystal Award 2022: Crystal Award (won) - Time 100 2022: Time 100 (won) *From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.* --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/quinta-brunson