Danielle Brooks is a Superhuman in Real Life and in ‘Pecemaker’

Danielle Brooks May Not Have SuperPowers in Peacemaker But She Sure Has Proven Herself As A Superhuman, On And Off Screen.

The 36-Iear-Eld Actress, Who Caunght Audiences’ Attraction with Her Breakout Role in the Emmy-Winning Series Orange is the New Black and then earned her first oscar nomination for 2023’s The Color Purpleis showning no signs of sliding down.

Brooks Is Currently Starring in Season Two of the DC Studios and HBO Max Series PeacemakerWHICH SEES HER Character, Leota Adebayo, Not Only Trying to Help Herself Navigate Life’s Challenge’s Cancer A Positive Perspective, But Also John Cena’s Pecemaker. While She Enjoys Leaning Into The “Child-Esque Energy” of the Show, Her Role Also Represents Something Much Deeper for Her.

“I THINK IT’S SO IMPORTANT TO HAVE BLACK WOMEN IN THIS Kind of Space,“ She Tells The Hollywood Reporter. “The Action, Comic Book World is Very Rare and So that Excites me that i can that representation for people that relay to me.”

Below, Brooks Opens Up About Navigating A New Version of Her Character in Peacemaker Season Two, What Is Like Working with John Cena and James Gunn, How Earning An Oscar Nomination Has Only Fueled Her Aspirs and Her Goals for The Future. She also teases the Last Three Episodes of the Newst Season of Peacemaker.

How Exciting Was It To Return for Another Season of PeacemakerEspecial Since It Had Been A FEW YEARS SINCE SEASON ONE AREED IN 2022?

Just to be able to come back was realy Great Because i Really Enjoyed Being On Peacemaker. I’ve Really Enjoyed Stepping Into A Different Genre, Being Under the Leadership of James Gunn and Peter Safran Has Been So Much Fun. EVEN OUTSIDE The FUN Part Because for M, I KNOW that’s WHY I LOVE ACTING SO MUCH. I Not Because i Collect the Biggest Check – WHICH I DON’T (Laughs), not Yet anyway – It’s not all of the perks. It’s Really Being Able to Tap Into Child-Esque Energy and Getting to Explore and Be Imaginative and Just Creative, You Know, That To To Me Is Wyy I’M In It.

Another Reason that i’m Enjoying Playing Adebayo Is Because of What She Represents. I Think It’s So Important to Have Black Women in this Kind of Space. The Action, Comic Book World is Very Rare and So that Excites me that i can that representation for people that relay to me, but then the also the lgbtq Community and playing a Queer Woman. It’s Just Really Powerful and Dope.

Danielle Brooks in ‘Pecemaker’ Season Two. Curtis Bonds Baker/HBO MAX

After Helping to Stop the butterfly Alien Invasion in Season One and Building Her Confident, Your Character, Leota Adebayo, Is Definitely Trying to Find Her Footing This Season, Ot. DID YOU APPRACH YOUR CHARACER DIFFERENTLY THIS SEASON?

Definitely. Right Now, Internally, Me and Adebayo Are Kind of Aligned ‘Cause I Really Came In Not Knowing Much About the Comic World and How I would fit in this World? Would i be accoted in this World? And I Feel Like That Was The Same With [Adebayo]. She’s Like, I DON’T KNOW, CAN I REALLY DO THIS? And that’s how and felt. So Now that I’ve Had A Season Under My Belt and She’s Had Time Under Hers, We’re Both on the Same Tradelation of Let’s Live in the Confidentnce, You Know, Let’s Being. She’s Like Gung-Ho About Finding A Job and EveryBody Else Finding A Job and Making the Thing Happen, But She Really Doesn’t Know What the Heck She’s Doing. So we’ll see how that plays out for her. This Season, I Really Do Feel Like She’s Just Really Been The Motal Compass for EveryBody, and Just Reminding Everybody Like, We Can Do It. We all are struggling with our things, you know, we watch [Adebayo] GOING THROUGH TIMES WITH HER WIFE AND WHAT SHE’S LOSING BECAUSE OF THE SACRIFICE She’S’S’S’S MADE FOR THE TEAM. But Somehow She Really Is Trying To Stay So Positive About Everything.

This Season, Viewers Have Also Seen Adebayo be someone Peacemaker can rely on as ha figures out his life too. WHAT WAS IT LIKE HAVING A BETTER RELATIONSHIP WITH John Cena’s Character This Season After The Ups and Downs of Season one?

IT’s Great to Work with John Cena. Like I Really enjoy that guy. We’ve Become Really Good [friends]whokh was kind of surprising to me. I MEAN, HE’S A WARM Person, But We Are Just SO Different. So i’ve really enjoyed ord of Conversations. As Far As Their Relationship, It Has Been Nice For [Adebayo] to Know That Peacemaker Does Trust Her and What She Says Is Valuable to HIM. But they are cut from the same cloth. They’re dealing with the Same Issues. They Both Want Love, They Both Want The Love of Their Paarents, But Also Know Thats They Have tonir Own Path and Not Be Whoy Came From. SOY ARE BOTHGGGLING INTERNALLY ON WHAT TO DO AND SO I THINK [Adebayo] is just giving pecemaker the Same Advice She’d Probably Give Herself.

Starring in a shown Full of Superheroes and SuperPowers, How Does It Feel To Be this Highly Intelligent and Skildled Human Agent?

It’s Really Cool. I don’t want to spoil anything, but i’ve been enjoying it. Yeah, I don’h have like specific superpowers and Stuff, but she USA WHAT she have. And the Way in Which James Has Presiented Adebayo, I’ve Still Gotten to have A Lot of Fun. Like I Got Shot Out of a Cow Last Season and Harnessed, Even Thought I Hit My Head Into A Wall (Laughs). But There’s So Many Fun Things that i’ve Gotten to and Even in Season Two that We haven’t Seen Yet. SO as an Actor, Like, Bring It On. This is what i live for. I enjoy this stuff and i hope that james decides to expand it. I HOPE THAT WE CAN See More of Adebayo and See Her with Her Mom in that Dynamic.

Danielle Brooks and John Cena in ‘Pecemaker’ Season Two. Curtis Bonds Baker/HBO MAX

DID IT Feel Any Different Working with James Gunn This Season, Because WHEN YOU FILMED SEASON One, HE WASN’T NAMED THE CO-HAD OF DC STUDIOS YET?

The one Thing I Know About James, and Can Confidently Say He’s One of the Hardest-Working People I’ve Known. That aspect of him have not changed. I Think There Is More Pressure for Him, But I Think He Also Handles Pressure Really Really, Because for Him Is All About The Story and Not So Much About, Will People Like This? I Think He Does Start from, Will I Like This? Do i gravitate Towards it? I THINK THAT’S SO COOL, AND AS I’M Starting to Delve Into Different Things – I’ve Started to Write and I’M Starting to Direct Myseld Back. You Can See in his HIS HIS HUMOR AND HOW MRITES AND How Vulgar It Can Be At Times or How Action-Packed It Can Be, Like He Really Says This Is What I Want I’M Going For It And Lone. … But i don’t think there was a big digffind. I Think He’s Stepping Into A ROLE THAT HE’S MORE CAPABLE OF DOING AND HE TRULY IS The RIGHT Person for the Job. You Spend One Day on A James Gunn Setha Him and You Know Hee’s Gonna Hold DC Down, and Clearly Is Working.

At the end of episode 5, the Gang Sets Out to Bring Peacemaker Back from this. What can fans expect from the Last Three Episodes of Season Two?

OH My GOSH, You’re Gonna Continue to See Double. I’m not gonna Say of Who, But Get Ready to See More Double. And is gonna be emotional, heartbreaking, heartwarming, and then there’s gonna be moments you’re gonna be like, wtf (Laughs). You’re gonna go through a lot of imotions, like prepare yorself for that.

But is some beauty -like work, and i just watched the emmys the Other Day and I would i would hope that people wold Start to pay at shows likes. Broght this year, the Crew have a Brough this year, has been phenomenal, but specifyly John Cena. His work these Last Three Episodes of Season Two Really DesERves Some Attmentation, in My Opinion. So i’m just saying don’t sleep on the comic book World, You Know.

Looking Back at What You’ve Accomplized So Far, Such As Starring in the Emmy-Nominated Series Orange is the New Black and Earning An Oscar Nom for Your Role in The Color PurpleHow dose Milesnes and Achievements Impact The Way You View Your Career Going Forward?

Hell yeah! First of All, Tomorrow [Sept. 17] is my birthaDay. I’m 36 Tomorrow, and so is strange to me that i’ve been able to accommPlish the things that you mented at this age because in my head what i was i was 21 But Special Viola Davis and Just Feeling Like, Man, It’s Notna Happen Until Late 30s, Early 40s. Like is gonna just take so long for me to an acchieve the things. And it does take time (Laughs), but it definitely did not take as Much Time As i Thought It Was Going to. SO with THESE MILESTONES THAT I’VE BEEN ABLE TO HIT, I FEEL LIKE The SKY is the Limit. I Feel Like There’s Nothing That I Can’T Achiev or Do, And I’M Always Trying to Be A Little Learner. … WHEN I’M AROUND PEOPLE LIKE [Samuel L.] Jackson and The Piano Lesson and his wife who’s DIRECTING A BROADWAY SHOW FOR The FIRST TIME WITH INCREDIBLE STARS AND All This Amazing Crew, Oh Yeah, Like I Can Do Do that. It’s Just Always Tese Reminders of You Get To Create The Life That You Want, As Long As I Could Stay in The Mindset of Education MySelf, There’s Nothing That I Can.

Danielle Brooks in 2023’s ‘The Color Purple.’ Warner Bros./courtesy Everett Collection

Is there apriphic moment WHEN YOU WEER YOUNGER WHEN YOU REALIZED ACTING WAS YOUR DREAM CAREER?

I Remember Being in High School and I Had Just Gotten Acceptted Into Juilliard for Doing The Monologue from Piano Lesson. And so the school had me do the monologue for some donors and they were all like white women in their 60s. AT FIRST I WAS LIKE, YO, How Are These Women Going To Relate To This Story? ‘Cause this is about ancistors and slikey and tapping back what’s Ours and I Just Don’t Understand HOW they’re Gonna Relate. WHEN I FINISHED THAT MONOLOGUE, WHEN I Tell You All of Those Women, WHICH WAS PROBABLY LIKE 12 or SO, ALL CAME UP to ME AND WAS LIKE Me, “I Miss My Grandmother,” or Whatever It Was, Like They Pouring Into Me How Much That The Speciality of My Work They Could Seeimselves Reflected In. That changed the game. I was like, Oh My Gosh, this is the Power of Acting, Like You Can Can Touch People Who’s Ton’Thing Anything About Your World.

Looking Ahead A Bit, Where Wuld You Like to See Yourself in The Next Five Years Career-Wise?

A Feature Film Supported by a Majoor Studio. That’s what i want. My Own Feature Film That I Wrote or Co-Wrote with Someone That Has Been Taken In By A Studio and Mass Distributed, Like That Wound Be Dope. … I Say Co-Wrote Because i’m Open to Collaboration, But I ALSO WANNA HAVE MORE MORE Control. I don’t want to keep to just wait for the Industry to say, “OK, we got something for you.” I Want to Create My Own Opportunities, But I ALSO WANT TO SHOWCASE Other People That I Feel Are Talentated That World Might Just Not Know Yet.

What does your perfect day off from work look like?

Me chilling. Getting to take a walk or i do like to exercise, so getting Some Kind of Exercise in ‘Cause that’s Helpphul for My Mental [health] and for my figure (Laughs). And then it wound be eating cake (Laughs). I KNOW THAT’S SO BAD. And Watching A Good Movie or Going Down A Rabbit Hole on YouTube for a Little Bit. And Playing with my daughter, asking her how her day went and not having to Clean Up Any Dog Poop. That’s a good day.

If you had to describe What makes Danielle Brooks, Danielle BrooksWhat would you say?

I’m a Really Kind-Hearted, Thought Person Who have to Express Herself. I say that because WHEN I’M NOT WORKING, YOU BEST BELIEVE MY WEELS Are Turning on How and Can Be Creative. So that’s important to me. And just trying to be the best human and can and raise the best kid i can.