Age: 36
female
Danielle Brooks is an American actress whose work spans television, film, and Broadway. She first gained widespread recognition as Tasha “Taystee” Jefferson on Orange Is the New Black (2013–2019), a role that became one of the series’ emotional centers and established her as a major presence on television. She later reached a broader mainstream audience starring as Leota Adebayo in James Gunn’s HBO series Peacemaker, where her performance played a central role in the show’s balance of action, satire, and character-driven storytelling. The series marked a high-profile expansion of her work into genre television tied to DC Comics. Brooks made her Broadway debut in 2015 as Sofia in the revival of The Color Purple, earning a Tony Award nomination and winning a Grammy Award with the cast. She reprised the role in the 2023 film adaptation, a performance that brought her nominations from the Academy Awards, BAFTA, and Golden Globes, solidifying her transition into major film roles. Alongside acting, Brooks has taken on producing and hosting work. She portrayed Mahalia Jackson in the television biopic Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia (2021), serving as an executive producer and earning a Primetime Emmy nomination. She later hosted Netflix’s Instant Dream Home, receiving a Daytime Emmy nomination for her work as a program host. Brooks has continued to balance screen and stage appearances, returning to Broadway in August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson and starring in the fantasy adventure comedy A Minecraft Movie, further expanding her range across genres.
Adaptation of John Henry Redwood's play, set in Harlem in the 1940s, about two sisters whose lives are altered when a young Southern man takes temporary lodging in their apartment. Quilly, newly separated from her husband, has come to live with her never-married sister Elizabeth. She is dismayed to learn that her cash-strapped sibling has rented a room in their modest Harlem apartment to a handsome young boarder, Husband Witherspoon. Husband has traveled from rural South Carolina to search for his hometown sweetheart, Lou Bessie. Husband soon learns that Lou Bessie has become a fast-living party girl known as Charmaine. Though he tries, Husband is unable to fit into her world. Desperate for real companionship, Husband reaches out to the much-older Elizabeth and convinces her that their romance can work. The two begin a love affair over the objections of Quilly and Lou Bessie, who dismisses Elizabeth as "an old settler" -- a woman who has reached middle age with no prospect of marriage.
