Danielle Brooks

Danielle Brittany Brooks (born September 17, 1989) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as prison inmate Tasha "Taystee" Jefferson on the Netflix comedy-drama series Orange Is the New Black (2013–2019). In 2015, she made her Broadway debut in the musical revival of The Color Purple as Sofia, for which she received a nomination for the Tony Award and won the 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. After appearing in the HBO series Girls (2014), Netflix's Master of None (2015–2017), and the animated sitcom Close Enough (2020–2022), in 2021, she received an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Television Movie as an executive producer on Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia. In 2022, she 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.

Cast

Fireproof

(Young Catherine (voice))

The Color Purple

(Sofia)

Soul of a Nation Presents: Screen Queens Rising

(Self)

A Minecraft Movie

(Dawn)

I Dream Too Much

(Abbey)

The Angry Birds Movie

(Olive Blue / Monica the Crossing Guard (voice))

Oprah & The Color Purple Journey

(Self)

Time Out of Mind

(Receptionist)

The Same Difference

Oh. What. Fun.

Straight/Curve: Redefining Body Image

(Herself)

The Day Shall Come

(Venus Al Shabaz)

Sadie

(Carla)

All the Little Things We Kill

(Claire Soto)

Clemency

(Evette Wilkinson)

The Public's Much Ado About Nothing

(Beatrice)

Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia

(Mahalia Jackson)

Eat Wheaties!

(Wendy)

Sarah Cooper: Everything's Fine

(Jordana Bachman)

The Bad Guys 2

(Kitty Kat (voice))

Orange Is the New Black

(Tasha 'Taystee' Jefferson)

The Daily Show

(Self)

Karma’s World

(Dr. Lillie Carter-Grant (voice))

Late Night with Seth Meyers

(Self)

Get Organized with The Home Edit

Project Runway

(Self)

Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure

(Ruthless Ruth)

Lip Sync Battle

(Self)

Project Runway

(Self - Guest Judge)

The Jennifer Hudson Show

(Self)

Instant Dream Home

(Self - Host)

Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen

(Self - Guest)

Jimmy Kimmel Live!

(Self)

Trailblazer Honors

(Self - Honoree)

LIVE with Kelly and Mark

(Self - Guest)

The View

(Self - Guest)

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

(Self - Guest)

The Oscars

(Self)

Tamron Hall

(Self - Guest)

Close Enough

(Pearle Watson (voice))

Peacemaker

(Leota Adebayo)

Master of None

(Shannon)

Finding Your Roots

Bottomless Brunch at Colman's

(Self)