Danielle Brooks

For me, it's important to be the representation that I wanted when I was a young girl.

I just want to be fully challenged as an artist, so that anyone who looks like me, who relates to me, says, 'Oh, if Danielle did it, I can.'

I've gotten rejected a lot.

It wasn't until I saw 'The Color Purple' on Broadway when I was 15 that I really solidified acting is what I want to do professionally.

Sometimes you have to sacrifice your pride to really go after what you want.

I'm a country girl. We lived in a neighborhood, but at the back of the house, there was a little pathway with a creek and a trail. And we would go there, me and my brother. It was always an adventure in our imagination.

Sometimes I need a slower pace, to slow my mind down and just be with nature, go outside.

I grew up spending a lot of time in church, almost every day, whether in choir rehearsal or praise team or Bible study - there was always a reason.

I was always getting caught for running my mouth. Which is why it was the best thing for me to get into acting so I could express myself.

I want to be in everything, but that's because I haven't seen someone who looks like me in everything. I want to play a superhero. I want to be the love interest. I want to write my own stuff and create my own projects. I want to be in French films.

I feel that we all have missions and purposes in life. Part of mine is allowing women to feel beautiful in whatever they put on - or don't put on.

Designing wasn't something that I was always into, but I wasn't able to find clothes that I wanted to wear. I wanted to be able to walk into any store and have an idea of what I want and go and get it.

Clothing is so much a part of who we are; that's our way of expressing ourselves.

I don't drink coffee, but I do try to find a way to get some chocolate in every day.

I don't necessarily have one mentor or 'a' mentor. But I do pull inspiration from people, and that's always kind of served me well.

You reap what you sow, and sometimes the soil can be very dry, and sometimes it will bring a lot of rain.

I've always known I wanted to be an actress. I didn't know quite how I was going to get there because I come from a small town called Simpsonville, South Carolina.

I love 'Insecure.' I want to play Issa Rae's sister. I do know Issa Rae, but we ain't besties or nothing.

I want to design clothes that I wish I could have worn when I was a teenager.

I went to Juilliard, for God's sakes. I know a little something about combat.

That's very, very important to me, to give another narrative. And Netflix has not been afraid of doing that, as we see from the plethora of shows that they have, from British shows to American shows like 'Master of None,' which I've been very grateful to be on, too. Just giving platforms to people who haven't seen themselves on TV.

Because I've worked with Netflix from the beginning, and that's my first job, I only want to work with creators, producers, and networks that are pushing the limit and putting people on the screen that haven't had their stories told yet.

In South Carolina, there's a lot of arts programs. So I was blessed enough to go to the Governor School For Arts & Humanities.

My biggest thing is telling a truthful story, something that is rooted in something and is very honest. If I read a script and you want me to take off my top, and it doesn't serve a purpose, then I'm not going to do it.

I like to play people who are underdogs and misfits. People who are not on a straight and narrow path. That's exciting for me.