Danielle Brooks

Biography

Danielle Brooks (born September 17, 1989) is an American actress. Her breakthrough role was as prison inmate Tasha "Taystee" Jefferson in the Netflix comedy-drama series Orange Is the New Black (2013–2019). In 2015, Brooks made her Broadway debut in the musical revival of The Color Purple as Sofia, for which she received a nomination for a Tony Award and won a Grammy Award. In 2023, Brooks reprised her role as Sofia in the film adaptation of The Color Purple and was nominated for an Academy Award, British Academy Film Award, and Golden Globe Award for her performance. In 2021, she played gospel singer Mahalia Jackson in the made-for-television biographical film Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia, for which she was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie as an executive producer. In 2022, Brooks hosted Netflix's reality series Instant Dream Home and was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Daytime Program Host. The same year, Brooks starred in the superhero series Peacemaker (2022–present) and returned to Broadway in the revival of the August Wilson play The Piano Lesson, for which she received a Drama Desk Award nomination. She has since starred in the fantasy adventure comedy A Minecraft Movie. Description above from the Wikipedia article Danielle Brooks, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Known For

The Angry Birds Movie

as Olive Blue / Monica the Crossing Guard (voice)

Peacemaker

as Leota Adebayo

Orange Is the New Black

as Tasha 'Taystee' Jefferson

Fireproof

as Young Catherine (voice)

A Minecraft Movie

as Dawn

The Daily Show

as Self

Master of None

as Shannon

Close Enough

as Pearle Watson (voice)

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

as Self - Guest

The Color Purple

as Sofia