Tyler James Williams and Brunson in ABC’s Abbott Elementary. Disney/Gilles Mingasson For five seasons, Quinta Brunson has kept her foot on the gas with Abbott Elementary.
Since premiering in 2021, the ABC workplace comedy has amassed an impressive 37 Emmy nominations, seven of which are for its latest season, including best comedy series and best directing for a comedy series. Brunson also made history with her fifth nomination for lead actress in a comedy series, becoming the second most nominated Black woman in the category’s history, behind only Isabel Sanford for The Jeffersons.
The creator, showrunner and star talks to THR about pulling off season five, that shocking breakup between Janine (Brunson) and Gregory (Tyler James Williams) and going toe-to-toe with cable streamers as she looks toward season six.
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Five seasons in, what’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned about balancing character growth and preserving the traits that connected them with audiences in the first place?
It can be really intimidating, especially when you have a show that is considered a success, to do anything out of the box, but I think what you also learn is, with six seasons of TV or more, you have to not be afraid to take leaps and make some choices that maybe people won’t love but keeping intact the integrity of who the character is. This is my first television show, so giving myself the space to learn has been really important. Understanding that even though it’s at this higher grade, I still have the opportunity to learn, try, fail, succeed.
What did you think of the fan reaction to Janine and Gregory’s breakup this season?
I was fine with it. That’s what I wanted to happen. I will say it was more than I bargained for. People were very mad at Gregory. That one, I wasn’t prepared for. I was like, “Oh my God! Poor Gregory!” People were tearing him up, and I also didn’t expect people to take Janine’s side. I felt like we had made a very even argument, but you really don’t know what’s going to happen once you give it to the world. That was fun, though, for me.
What did it take to execute the “Ballgame” episode?
Shooting at a live game is unreal to do, and I’m so proud of the cast, because I remember that day, we all had to fully know our lines. We have a lot of wiggle room here and there, where you could pull up your sides real quick, but for this episode, we didn’t have time for that. I needed everyone to know every line, word for word, because we only had a certain amount of time to pull it off. I’m so proud of our director, Randall Einhorn, because it’s not easy to do, and it’s something that’s not done often because of that. … And I was proud of the writer, Ava Coleman, because she had to work directly with the MLB. It was huge.
How has Abbott changed you as a writer?
Doing TV at 22 episodes a season and still making it as good as we possibly can, I feel super-powered. We have so many more boundaries here than other shows. We can’t cuss the way other people do. Those things are fun to do, but I actually have enjoyed the boundaries of working in a network because it’s made me a stronger creator. There used to be this old thing where a clean stand-up comic who can still make people laugh is the best comic, because it’s not easy to do. So I’m very proud of that. We can still compete with shows on HBO or FX, where they have more room to do that.
This story first appeared in a July stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
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