December 15, 2022 • 49 mins
Quinta Brunson is having an incredible year. She and her ABC sitcom, Abbott Elementary, are racking up some serious awards and breaking ratings records. She single-handedly revived the dying network sitcom. The Hollywood Reporter named her Comedy Star of the Year. And she just played Oprah in ‘Weird: The Al Yankovic Story,’ which came out the same month Quinta was interviewed by Oprah herself. How does Quinta deal with it all? On this episode of Next Question with Katie Couric, Katie and Quinta talk about the blur of success, the making of ‘Abbott,’ the real-life inspiration of her characters, her early years in Philly, why she loved her twenties, and so much more.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi everyone, I'm Kitty Kirk and this is next question.
You know, when I told my team I was interviewing
today's guest, they went nuts. Winda Brunson just seems to
have that effect on people. She's the creator, writer, producer,
and star of Abbot Elementary, a workplace mockumentary following a
(00:20):
group of determined teachers and one slightly less motivated but
hilarious principle at of Philadelphia Public School. Guys, I need
a new rug. Mine is officially done. Me too. I
shook mine out and all of the asthma kids had
to go to the nurse's office. Yeah, mine's busted. And
he can't class up a rug like he kind of
couch with a nice quota plastic. He would it do?
(00:43):
Baby booth? Which I think about this low film corrobborading
here distracting makes our jobs harder, but exciting. Were about
to be on TV because they are covering undefunded, poorly
managed public schools in America. No press is bad press, barb.
Look at mel Gibson, still thriving in front of the camera.
Quinta plays Janine, one of the newer, more relentlessly enthusiastic
(01:06):
teachers Behind the scenes, Quinta has created something unique, a
network sitcom that manages to authentically portray the real world
struggles of public school educators, and it's resonating. Viewership of
the show, which is in its second season, is breaking
records for ABC, and it's piling up all kinds of accolades.
(01:29):
For this year's Critics Choice Awards, Abbott has more nominations
than any other TV show it starts or benefiting too,
including Sheryl Lee Ralph, who's getting some long overdue Recognitionminin
Dane Species. You might have seen her emmy speech. It
(01:52):
brought the room to its feet and meet a tears song.
I am a mana, I'm antist and not be. I
(02:27):
caught up with Quinta at the tail end of her
busy production schedule, and she was understandably beat. She spoke
to me during a break between writing sessions in Los Angeles.
It must be so fun to be in a writer's room.
My daughter is a writer for a show called The Boys,
which is on Amazon. Yeah, yeah, and you know, and
(02:50):
I hear her. She does a lot of her stuff
on Zoom. But I've always wanted maybe when I come
to l a. I'll be able to. Maybe you'll let
me sit in on your writer's room. I come to
l A for a month in the winter to see
my daughter to work, you know, remotely, because I hate
cold weather. I just have to get out in New
York City and um, it must be so fun to
(03:11):
be in a writer's room. It is, um, you know,
just like any other working experience. It can vary, you know,
it depends on what room you're in, where you are. Yes,
so my daughter has been in some not so fun rooms, right,
it happens. But I bet The Boys is actually a
pretty fun one. I bet that's a great show with
great producers. I think that our room is made to
(03:33):
be a really enjoyable environment. Um. I have two wonderful
co producers, Justin how Pert and Patrick Schumacher, who really
help facilitate such a healthy room. I I know, for
me personally, I always wanted to have an enjoyable room
where people can feel comfortable speaking, can we can brainstorm easily,
(03:54):
We can be efficient as well as exciting. But we
just we have a great room. One of my favorite
thing about our room is we started ten every day
and we're done typically before four o'clock. That's not that's nice.
My favorite part is you know, we get to go home,
so that's exciting. I would think it would be so
important to have good chemistry in a writer's room and
(04:16):
a good environment where people can riff and have fun
and you know, and I don't know, it's it must
be the strange alchemy because you have to be respectful,
but you also have to feel free to throw out
ideas and not be afraid. Right. Yeah, Like I said,
like in a healthy room, you get to do all
(04:39):
of those things. You get to throw out out ideas,
you get to collaborate, you could be respectful of others.
I think the key to a healthy room is respect,
you know, respecting the other writers who are in the
room with you, their point of view. Um, we just
had a conversation about the episode we're watching. And although
it is my show, and I think in a lot
(05:02):
of other cases people would say, well what I say goes.
I'm always it's not just open to but grateful to
be able to hear the thoughts of the writers and
see making sure that we're all on the same page,
that we're feeling heard their ideas make the show better.
So you have to maintain an environment where people feel
(05:24):
comfortable sharing. And for me, my writing process goes all
the way back to improv, which is the rules of
yes ending instead of no butt. So it's always how
can we build off of each other? Um, how can
we hear each other out and come to the something
that makes the entire room comfortable? And if it doesn't,
(05:44):
let's talk about why and and really get in there
and make something good. So I that's that's an important
part of a writer's room, and when that writer's room
is operating off of that is such a good experience
like that, But it takes a lot of humility for
someone like you to be willing to take feedback from writers.
And what if you feel like you know you want it,
(06:07):
you're you're open to it, but you totally disagree. I mean, ultimately,
it is your name on the show, so you do
you just say, you know, how do you how do
you handle that? Like that's a really interesting observation and idea.
But I like it the way I get it, you know,
I just stay honest. I do. I love to hear
(06:30):
how everyone feels and very often my mind will be changed.
But every once in a while, say Nope. This is
what makes it my show to me, and if I
were to waiver on this, then it wouldn't feel like
my show or something that I'm comfortable having my name
put on, and vice versa, if the thing were to
(06:51):
Most of the time you're getting into that discussion about
something that might blow up, you know, something that might
get get audience feedback that is not necessar saily great.
We haven't had that happen in it with Avid, thank goodness, UM,
but you know, every now and then it happens. We
had a charter school storyline this season that UM upset
(07:13):
a few people who who work in charter schools, And
because that was my decision, I was able to say, yeah,
I own that, Yeah you're upset, and that's okay. I
made that decision. Uh, and I take that fully on
my back because that is what I wanted to happen
in the show. So whenever I do just kind of
(07:34):
say no, this is the way I wanted, I'm also
making sure I'm prepared to take whatever blowback could come
from that decision, which I that's part of the responsibility
of helming a show UM as a creator and just
knowing that if things go South. It's on YouTube. But
also only that I think is really important. Well, it
(07:58):
sounds like it's it's a fun place to work, and um,
and thanks are going so well for you. First of all,
I just want to say congratulations from for all your
success you're Are you still thirty two or if you
turned thirty three? Quina? Thirty three? In let's see what
day it is? How many days? Wow? Wow? Well that's
(08:25):
still your baby. You're very young and you know, oh
my god, honey, you know I'm sixty five, So thirty
three sounds pretty sweet to me. Although I wouldn't change
a thing. No, I feel I feel lucky to be
the age I am, and I feel like everyone needs
to appreciate every year they have on the planet. Absolutely,
(08:48):
but I feel really bad. Things are going so so
badly for you these days. I'm kidding. I feel like
I feel like I feel like every interview must start
this way. Quenta, Wow, what a year you've had. You're
the award winning writer, creator, and showrunner of Avid Elementary.
(09:09):
You single handedly revived the dying Network sitcom. The Hollywood
Reporter named Comedy Star of the Year, and you just
played Oprah in Weird The Aligankovic story. So does every
interview start that way, Quinta? You know most of them do? Yes,
most of them do? Yeah. I can't lie well. I
(09:32):
tried to start out in a more original way, but
I couldn't figure out how to do that. So I
just want to ask you. I mean, how are you
dealing with it? Is it is this thrilling? Is it overwhelming?
Is it a mixed bad? What it is? Um? Over No,
(09:53):
overwhelming is not the right word. It's thrilling. I think
that I focus very much on keeping my feet on
the ground, and I think that's what keeps it from
becoming overwhelming. You know, I think I know what's happening
every day, Even on days where I'm don't totally know
my entire schedule, I'm keeping in tune with what's going on. UM.
(10:15):
I recently had that interview with Oprah which came out yesterday,
and although I have not watched it, I remember talking
about Oprah was talking to me about UM. You know,
her her rise of making her show was essentially a blur, like,
it's just happening. You're just doing your job every day,
(10:37):
and I feel like you probably can relate. You're just
doing your job and and Oprah said that she felt
like for the first time she was able to look
at me and see what it looked like or felt like.
So I feel like that comforted me because I can't
really slow down to see what it looks like. Things
are just happening every day and I'm just writing wave
(11:00):
because ultimately, I feel like I just need to, like,
you know, stay healthy, and it feels good to focus
on my work like that. Um. I think that in
the future I'll be able to look back and just
be like, whoa that this is all crazy, But for now,
I've just compartmentalized it into things that happened every day.
So even talking to you, although you were the wonderful,
incredible kid, Curic, it's like, you know that's in the
(11:23):
calendar is okay, I'll be doing that and then I'll
be going back to the writer's room and then who knows.
I think I'll process it in like three months. At
the same time, have you taken any like moment to
just say, wow, this is so exciting. I mean, it
is kind of kiss met when everything comes together. You know,
it doesn't happen that often, right, And yeah, for you
(11:45):
to come up with this idea. Yeah, write it, create it,
starring it, and birth that. Really I hope you've able
to been able to take a moment to say this
is this is really cool? I think so I think
I have I do. I have those moments every now
and then. I took my dad to a six Ers
(12:06):
game this past week, and um was that crazy? It was,
you know, because I'm in my l a bubble a
lot and getting to go back home is rare, you know,
it's kind of like holiday time. Um. I was excited
to take my dad to that game just because when
I was little, he used to take me to games,
(12:27):
you know, and so I was excited to be able
to do that for him. And were you on the JumboTron? Yeah, yeah,
I heard, I heard I was. But they had us
ring the Liberty bell, which is what you know, celebrities
do at the beginning of the six Years game. And um,
that was a moment where I got to sit and
take it in, like, whoa, I'm able to take my
dad to the six Years game. I'm able to like
(12:49):
sit courtside with my dad and have you know, like
James Harten say hey to me and like the the
you know, the nets and stuff, and my dad got
to meet the legendary basketball player named World be Free.
I didn't know him. My dad's out about him, but
then that you know, he's freaked out. Then later that
guy was like, I love your show, and I was like,
(13:10):
oh my god, thank you, and you know my dad
loves you and you know it took a picture with him,
which was so cool. So it's like moments when I'm
able to do that for my dad or yeah, this
is I have a couple of show. It's the most
you know, odd moments. It's not technically when I'm accepting,
worried or something. It's like when I can do something
(13:32):
very hyper specific for my family. Well, it's I think
it must be incredibly exciting. And I want to talk
to you about your family, Quentin a minute and a
little bit about your upbringing and sort of your slightly
circumlocutious road to creating this show, because you've done a
lot of other things I know kind of leading up
(13:54):
to this point, but but I wanted to focus just
for a minute on the show. I know you came
up with the idea because your mom was a kindergarten
teacher and she used to come home and regale you
all with stories. Did you think, I mean when you
set out to do this show. Tell me a little
bit about your thought process, because I'm so fascinated by
(14:16):
the genesis of an idea. The idea really came when
I went to go visit my mom, and I spent
so much time with my mom in schools. I was
in her class, I went to the school where she
taught for all of the elementary school, and then constantly
was just more than just being a student. Was always
in schools and my mom was very involved, so just
(14:38):
hearing about everything from her. That wasn't until I, you know,
I went to college and moved to l A. And
then all of a sudden, I wasn't in that environment
as much anymore. But I wasn't in that state of
knowing how important or formidable, you know, that environment was
to me and how familiar I was with it. So
(14:58):
when I went back to visit my mom before she retired,
I was just in this environment again. All of a sudden,
that familiarity just hit me in the face. I was like, WHOA,
I forgot how you know this halways smell these floors,
this these walls, man, this is so rich and it's
something a world I know really well that I forgot about.
So I think for me, I like to create stories
(15:23):
about a world I know very well, and I feel
like I like to know the smell of that world,
you know, I like to know all of those kinds
of details. And ultimately, you know, despite what people take
away from when they watch Abbott, I really just wanted
(15:43):
to make a workplace comedy. That was my goal. Just
a twenty two minute sitcom. Uh no more poignant than
then uh, you know any of the other workplace comedies. Really,
I think with a show like Abbott that naturally the
(16:05):
heart comes out differently, the lessons that people learn from
the show, It just comes out because of uh where
me and the writers the places where we could be
right from. You know, we're I think we're big on
humor and humanity and so uh because of that, people
(16:27):
get a lot more from the show. But my goal
is to keep it a workplace comedy. These things need
to happen here the same way that they've happened on
you know, shows like The Office or just shoot Me.
Like it just needs to feel um. So I love
that it's both the sitcom and and sort of the
mockumentary style of the office. Um, and it feels a
(16:51):
little ted Lassoe with the heart and the focus on
the characters, the teachers. How did that come come? Bath?
Did you just say, I like this style, so I
want to have the teachers. I want them to convey
what's happening internally and all that. Yeah. I just thought
it was a great opportunity for mocumentary. I mean, I
(17:12):
saw it as a mocumentary initially. That's just what I
saw when I thought of the idea. But what was
always fun to me about mocumentary is with it you
get two versions of a character. It's just multilayered, which
I think is so beautiful for the mundane field fields. Um,
(17:32):
you know. Yeah. Uh. There's a show that people don't know,
but it was one hbos an Australian show called Jamay
and it was it was very it is really silly,
not the most politically correct, but it was just this
girl going to her prep school and you find yourself
all of a sudden, super into this girl's life, you know.
(17:54):
And I think it's that those double layers to people
that mocumentary provides that makes them more enticing and I
felt like that was really great for these teachers, in
particular in the school like abbott Um, to get two
sides of them, what they showed her the camera and
what they showed to their um uh, their cowork It's
(18:15):
also interesting to watch that relationship develop over time. You know,
a character like Gregory, who kind of wants nothing to
do with the cameras at first, are now finding them
to be the only people. You know, he they that
he can trust. And I think it's fun for the audience,
you know, it keeps them on their toes of There's
so many people who, like in our show, would love
(18:37):
for Gregory and Janine to get together. But you know,
Gregory and Jeanine don't know what the audience knows. They
really don't. They don't know what the cameras know, you
know what I mean, they don't they You guys are
seeing it, but they're not seeing anything really right. Same
thing with Barbara, I mean, all of our characters. There's
there's opportunities for Barbara to say stuff to the camera
(18:58):
about her profession that she would never say to your
co workers. So I just find it so exciting. It's
such an exciting format. I don't think it always works,
you know, like I think sometimes it's a hindrance or
a crutch, but I don't think it is here. It
makes you feel like you're part of the inside joke,
you know, as a viewer when people like glance at you,
(19:22):
even if it's quick like when you were getting off
the ladder and you glance quickly at the audience or whatever.
It Yeah, it makes you. It brings you into that world,
and it makes it feel much more intimate, which I
thought was really important too. I knew that, and once again,
I didn't give it that much thought. I think I
(19:42):
was just moving with the current of the idea. But
there are ways people could look at a public school
like Abbott and dismiss it and dismiss what kind of
love is there and what kind of cares there. So
I wanted people when they watched the show to feel
(20:02):
like they're in this school. I didn't want them to
to feel like they're the aquarium looking in at the fish.
I wanted them to be in there with them, because
a certain kind of care comes from the audience. Then
they want to protect these characters. They want to protect
these kids. They work at Abbot two, they go to
abbit two. Um, I think that that's something that's so powerful.
(20:25):
And yeah, it was kind of like a theory I
was testing and it wound up being true watching people
care so much about these characters and you know, like
want merch want they want the abbot, they want the
most the lanyard, Like why do you want that lanyard?
But you know people want to they feel a part
of it. And that's so beautiful to me, and I
think that's the sign of like a good a good show.
(20:47):
When we come back, Quenta walks me through the often
real life inspiration for her avid elementary teachers. That's right
after this. I wanted to ask you about the focus
(21:09):
of the show because it really, as you know, is
on the teachers. And um, I'm curious what you're hearing
from teachers because teachers are rarely portrayed in such a
loving light I think, and obviously funny too, But have
you heard from a lot of teachers who who say
(21:30):
they finally feel seen? I'm getting tired of that expression,
but you know what I mean. I know, I mean
all the time, all the time, all the time. What
do you hear from them? It's always thank you, thank
you for showing what we go through. And you know,
teachers are interesting because we usually talk about feeling seen
(21:50):
in terms of like race or sex, um, sexual preferences, sexy,
but not with like a profession. And I think that's
what's so unique about teaching is it's this marginalized part
of the government workforce. You know, we we have to
have teachers. We have to No one can do anything
(22:14):
without a teacher. It's just you know, in order for
me and you and I to sit here and talk,
we had to learn English. We had to, you know,
learn so much. And teachers do that and um, they're
paid so little. There overlooked, they're under appreciated. Um, they
should be the most revered next to doctor. You know
(22:36):
what I mean. I couldn't agree with you more so
more than feeling seen for them, it's it's not like
seeing like representation. It's appreciation for what they do, you know,
for their actual work. I think is what they're feeling.
It's like someone appreciates our work. And now the world
(22:59):
is starting to appreciate our work more. We're not just
someone who stands in front of a chalkboard. I would
always have kids say to me, you know the way
they my mom was a teacher, so there will be
other kids in my class who looked at teachers in
this very foreign way. But to me, I'm like, this
is my mom. She comes here, she does this job,
and then she goes home, she makes dinner, she buys
me clothes, she takes me to church, to cheese. She said,
(23:21):
she like five other kids. But to them, when you're
just a student, that's just a teacher, and they they
do stuff, they get on your nerves, and then they
go to sleep at the school and then they wake
up in the morning and they teach you again. And
I think that that's the way a lot of like
America unfortunately, looks at teachers. And I think teachers just
come up to me to tell me, you know, thank
(23:43):
you for appreciating what they do and knowing that it's
more than just babysitting and that it's a hard, hard job. Um.
I'm such an advocate for them being paid more, and
I I don't know who I have to, like, I
don't know what we have to do to get them
paid more, but they just deserve like so much more money,
(24:07):
especially in under resourced schools like like Abbot Elementary Um,
which you you focus on in a kind of funny
but serious way. And I love that you take real
life issues that educators face but do it in a
way that is not too heavy handed. Is it challenging
to to be able? Wanted to kind of weave those
(24:30):
things into the script and not feel like you're preaching. No,
not for me, it's not my storytelling style. Two have
those things way down the script or the scene or
the line. I just think that there's more power and
(24:53):
uh in in showing and telling. And I think we
just did this in the room. It's and I think
it's important to focus on the mundane. And in the mundane,
are the details really? Like if you just listen long
enough to someone talking about doing their job at the airport,
(25:13):
they're just talking. I just talked to someone at the
airport and they're just talking to me. They were having
a casual conversation. But in that mundane conversation, I'm like, Yeah,
that's messed up. That's messed up. That's messed up. But
people are just doing their jobs. They're just getting through
the day, you know, they're just uh, they don't have
time all the time to talk about how messed up
something it is They're just they got to do their job.
(25:33):
They have to do their work, and so that's kind
of how I approach Abbott. These are people who just
have to do their job. They could stop right stop
and talk about the injustices all day, but they have
to teach the kids. That's the goal of the job.
The job is not to talk about the job. It
is to do the job. And I think you so
much more out of that. I loved when Shirley Ralph
(25:53):
was talking to your character about supplies and about not
emphasizing what the kids don't have, but emphasizing what they
have and working, working with the tools you have to
give the kids confidence. And there's obviously a lot of
wisdom from Barbara, who I guess is sort of loosely
(26:16):
based on your mom. Yes, absolutely, not loosely very but
you know what's fun is now the character has taken
such shape and form. It's I love what Barbara with
the Barbara character has become, and I love still influencing
her with my mother, but also watching this character turned
into you know, someone very special. That's that's my most
(26:37):
my favorite part about writing. I can start with inspiration,
but then watching the character take on a life of
its own is so so that's the most rewarding part
about it. That's when you really feel like your character
is alive, and that's so fun. You know, Miss Howard,
you remind me so much of my favorite teacher from
the third grade, Miss Elliott. She was well dressed, good
with kids, a wizard with a glue gun. Thank you, Jenny.
(26:59):
That is very I wanted to be just like her. Actually,
I was like obsessed with her. She wrote my report
card note needs friends her own age, A bit clingy
she was anyway, Hey, did you get my email about
the two of us hanging together after school? Or no?
It must have gone to spam. It's so crazy how
my emails do that with you and nobody else. And
tell me about the Lisa and Walters characters, sort of
(27:22):
the rough Italian um. Of course I loved her in
the parent Trap. But what was the inspiration for her character?
Did you create her out of whole cloth? No? My
mom always had a best friend, no matter where, you know,
for years it was a woman named Miss Facey, and
I love miss Facey. She just always had a partner.
(27:42):
And then when my mom switched schools during the last
five years of her career, she had this friend UM
named was it camera? I think it was Melissa. I
think I just used that name Melissa Michelle or something
like that. And I met her and I was like,
I like this woman, you know, like I like the
role she plays in my mother's life, and my mom
(28:04):
feels very safe with her. They feel safe with each other. Um,
they feel comfortable enough to talk about the silliness of
the school district and the silliness of their principle at
the time, and I just thought that was such an
endearing relationship. And these are two women who are from
opposite sides of the city, different races, different religions, but
their common ground is we gotta do this job. Let's
(28:28):
just get it done. Here's the silly thing that happened today.
And they've been doing the shop for a long time.
So Melissa was super motivated by that UM woman in
you know, Lisa audition for that role, and I mean
really just brought to life what it was. It's in
a tone of Lisa's voice to be both tough and
(28:49):
very subtle and caring all in the same breath. And
she just owned it and made it and I maintain it.
I think she's one of the best. She's really really good.
I love people who can be as subtle as subtle
as she can, and it's like my favorite type of actress.
(29:11):
And I think that Lisa just killed it. And once again,
that's a character that has grown so much. We I
love adding in character traits to that character to make
her turn into a very alive, well fleshed out character.
Who's brend Zino? Is this that is a very powerfully
smelling fish to put in a shared fringe. Don't touch it.
(29:31):
I'm making it tonight at my cousin and nets. I
just think she's the best cook in the family. I'm
gonna show her in a non threatening way. I'm gonna
look cutter than her too. Janelle James is definitely not
so subtle, not know, which is one of my other
favorite parts of the communic spectrum, which is in your face.
But I will say that Jenell's performance of Eva Um,
(29:55):
it's just fascinating. There was no one else who could
have done that job. And jan All has such a
handle on who that woman is. You know, it's a
woman that is utterly ridiculous, but you love her, and
I think we write her that way but Janelle knows
exactly what to do to make it so that the
(30:16):
audience can't help but be in love with her. And
that's something very unique to Janelle. Like I said that
that those auditions were hard, and jen I mean as
soon as she spoke, I was like, we're done, no one.
It's an essence that she can carry of, you know,
making you be both in love with this character but
hate them and you you'd be sad if they weren't there,
(30:37):
but you're mad they're there. It's very very special. Um,
she's so good and UM, I don't know. I'm just
excited to build out more of Ava. There's there's stuff
coming up that I think is so great. The other
great thing about that characters, even when they're small winds
for her, the audience feels justified and being like, see
this is why I like If she can spend the
(30:59):
whole episode horrible, but then if she just says one
right thing, you know, everyone's like see see this is
why I like her. And I think it's really fun
to have a character like that. Let me see these
permissions left to the zoo, and they better be real
because I can tell if you're fake to herb be Hancock.
Oh it's John Hancock. Girl. I know, I'll just say
whatever I want. We learned that. Yet it's funny how
(31:19):
like how complex sort of all these things are in
terms of the dialogue and the plot lines. And I
wanted to ask you two about Tyler James Williams, who
is subtle who Um I've really enjoyed watching as well.
Tell me a little bit about that character and where
Tyler came from. So yeah, I mean that character. Well,
(31:45):
I'll go to the first part. So Tyler. I had
worked with him one Black Lady Sketch Show, and I
just so enjoyed working with him. It was just a
wonderful experience for me with him One Black Lady Sketch
Show that was kind of like my first time um
acting with uh, with the guy with the man and
had that I had to be romantic with. It was
(32:06):
like get in the sketch or whatever. But it's a sketch,
so we didn't have time to like build much uh chemistry,
you know. We had to say our lines and do it.
But I felt as though we had the natural chemistry
that you look for with with all of the actors
in your life, like it's a chemistry I look for
with Janelle with um, you know, with with all of
the actors in my show, I have that chemistry. I
(32:27):
knew it would have to be special though, with the
Gregory Jeanine relationship, since you know, it's insinuated that it's romantic.
And when I was writing this character, I just kept
seeing Tyler in my head. I was like, you know what,
Tyler has the right look for this. I know he
can act it. I know we have a natural chemistry there.
I really hope he can't do it. So I told
(32:48):
him about it. This was during the pandemic, so I
didn't know how he was gonna. I don't know if
he would be one of those people that's like, I'm
never working again. I don't want to. I don't want
to do TV to the Mountain said. I didn't where
it would go. But he was like yeah, he said
that sounds great. And I sent him the script once
it was finished and he was like, I really like this,
and um, he was just like a shoeing. I think
(33:11):
we auditioned some of other people, but no one beat
out Tyler's approach on the character. He just headed down
and so, um, you know, His character comes in very
much not wanting to be here and now, As I said,
watching him grow and he he comes off super suave
and and and everything in the beginning. But one thing
that I'm really proud of in this show is we've
(33:32):
gotten to show his quirks and he still gets to be, like,
you know, to the audience, this guy who's exciting and
kind of a heart throb, but also it is a
dork and has these quirky things about him. All right, man,
you I can't do this. I just don't like pizza.
Said that again. I don't think I heard you, son, sweetheart,
What do you mean you don't like pizza? I just
(33:54):
don't understand the concept of having a bunch of ingredients
just slosh around in your mouth. It's not just pezza
to I've got like four or five things that I
actually like and I just stick to those. Do you
like pie? Fruit should not be hot? And I think
that's really important for a black male character to be
all of that at the same time. And it's just
(34:17):
exciting to watch that character form um through the writers
and through Tyler's performance. That's Tyler is the king of
unexpected choices. And I find it so exciting, you know,
to see what kind of choice he's gonna make. I
absolutely love acting in scenes with him. He and I mean,
(34:38):
I love acting scenes with all of my um all
of my cast members, but him and Jacob Chris Parfetti.
I love acting in scenes with Chris. Makes me feel
like a better actress. Like, well, now that you brought
him up, I don't want to leave him out, you know, like, uh,
he put the off and off right tell me about
(35:02):
him and and and sort of the inspiration for his character.
So the inspiration for his character was kind of like
my um. I had a friend and I have a
friend in New York named Matt, and I love Matt.
I think he would go to the ends of the
earth for his children and was always coming up with
new fun projects and um and just loves his job.
(35:27):
He genuinely does, loves it so much. And he's one
of the teachers in my life that I talked to
the most. And I really wanted to have a character
someone like Matt represented in this show. And so with
Chris's character Jacob, I felt like it would be easy
to say, oh, this white guy, he's being a white
savior blah, blah blah, but like, no, there's more than that.
(35:48):
There's more to him than that, and his position and
why he winds up in the school like this in
the first place, and the choices he makes, and I
just think that Chris had such a handle on him.
It could have easily been a very stereotypical portrayal of Jacob.
But Chris was so subtle, I felt, I love subtlety,
and it still funny and exciting. Hey, do you want
(36:11):
cheesesteaks from the corner store for launch day? Not from there?
The guy behind the counter he calls me white boy. Well,
it's like a term of endearment, and like, if you
don't like it, just ask me this up no way.
There's an entire chapter on white fragility on that, okay,
Robin D'Angel And she says, when you start policing people, who, Hey, Melissa,
can you please tell Tana has He quotes here that
white boy is a term of endearment from the corner
(36:32):
store people. So Zach Gertz, Yeah, for him, it's an insult.
I think he's so funny because he's so earnest, he's
trying so hard, and he's trying I think he's one
of these people who is maybe hyperbolically progressive and and
and really um almost performatively uh progressive in a way,
(36:58):
which is you know, you know, his heart's in the
right place. But and we we talked about that a
lot of One of the main things in this description
for the character and the pilot was he is woke
to a fault, Like is that a bad thing? I
don't know, let's find out. Like I I kind of
(37:19):
dough all of my characters. I don't like to label
people bad or good or wrong or right. I think
the exploration of how all of these different points of
view mixed with each other. So putting them in a
scenario where all of their points of views, you know, collide,
that's the real way to get something good. Instead of
just labeling Jacob bad because he's you know, overly woke,
(37:44):
labeling Janine bad because she's overly optimistic. It's just playing
with those in between gray areas. They give you a
good story. After the break, Quinta talks about her family
and her wild and wooly twenties. So you're the youngest
(38:13):
of five kids, and um, you grew up in West Philadelphia.
As we've established, your mom was a kindergarten teacher. You
were the baby, um, and what about your dad? Tell
me a little bit about your family dynamics and were
you the the family clown. I'm the youngest of four,
and I was like that, Oh, I've talked about the
(38:36):
youngest a lot um being the youngest. Talked about it
with Nick Kroll. Actually he's the youngest in his family.
We've talked about with that freedom you're allotted when you're
the youngest child. Do you feel that too, Yeah, definitely.
My parents were tired by the time I came around,
and I think they were much harder on my older
sisters and even my brother. I agree, um so had.
(39:00):
My dad was actually a manager of parking lots, which
I think was so cool in retrospect. It's funny enough.
I just had the experience that I had going back
to my mom's school. I had the experience. I went
into a parking garage and had to go into the
little booth you go to you know whatever, and I
(39:21):
was like, wow, this this smell, this familiarity. I spent
so much time in these kinds of booths as a
little girl with my dad, and I was like, oh wow,
is my next show going to be about parking lots?
But no, but he was a parking manager. He UM.
My dad's fascinating. I think he is simply everyone says
(39:42):
it's about their dad, but he's one of the best
men I know. And I think he made a lot
of sacrifices to raise so many children. I think it's just,
you know, he had a whole life. My parents were
you know, they were they were explorers, hippies, you name it.
And he settled down in out like a real job
to be able to take care of his children, which
(40:03):
I think is so admirable because both of my parents
is they're they're so talented. My dad was a gymnast,
he was an artist, and they decided that the children
they were having were more important. And I don't know,
I admire him so much for that, I really do.
So you you graduate from Temple and then you kind
(40:23):
of are are searching for what you want to do.
Just tell me a little bit about your twenties, Quinta
um and and how you ultimately ended up making videos
for BuzzFeed. But just just fill in the blanks for me.
The twenties. I loved my twenties, Um, I did. I
really lived it up. I'm so proud of myself, um
to the point where it makes me sad when I
(40:44):
see other kids not doing it. I'm like, no, this
is the time to live it up, be safe, but
have fun. But no, I graduated from Temple, had a
ball in college. Or I'm sorry, I didn't graduate from Temple.
I just left and went out. Came to l A
around twenty three, was it. Yeah. I had some breakups,
(41:05):
had some fun, and then I started working at Apple
out here to help, you know, I had to have
a job, and I explored. I was on my own
and really explored it. Like I had fun. I made
new friends. I um, I went where I could with
the little money I had. I took you know, went
(41:28):
to Palm Springs, went to josh for Street, took the
trips I could take, met people. Um. When I started,
it was around two thousand and fourteen when the platform
Instagram got video, and before Instagram had video just pictures
and you know you that was it. But the video
part really opened up a certain section of virality. I
(41:49):
was already practicing comedy before then. I was doing improv
and I really wanted to make it big. With stage
improv and you know, going to either be on SNL
or somehow find my way to making my own show.
But then, um, I just started making these little videos
with no intention of going viral or fame or anything.
It was just I'll make these little videos for my
friends to watch. Students, This is peces and a large
(42:19):
form a large you got your money, he got money,
get it all. You know. They went super viral, which
was super new for that platform, and I just started
serializing them, which was exciting because it made me feel like, Okay,
I don't know what I'm doing and I don't know
why I'm doing it, but I'm enjoying this idea of
(42:40):
you know, serializing, making sort sort of a universe, sort
of a show. This is what I've always wanted to do,
and it's cool to be able to do it. And
um I had fun doing it and made a lot
of money from selling T shirts with the catchphrases. But
eventually that money ran out and I needed a job,
and honestly, I missed the stability of a job. I
didn't like the idea of all of that being on me,
(43:01):
having to sell T shirts and having to make weird
appearances for money. I was like, I'd rather have a
nine to five than live like this, And so BuzzFeed
came into play, which would up being a perfect job
for me because I was able to be creative, have
an audience, and have a consistent income for a very
long time. I worked there for three years, I think,
and it wasn't I needed that. I needed two having
(43:25):
a consistent check. And over time while being at that company,
you know, my income grew. I was able to save,
which I had never been able to do in my life.
Savings was just out of the question, and I finally
was able to put money away, which wound up being
important for me later um to have money, I could
you know, live off of well, I failed my way
(43:46):
after I left BuzzFeed. So my twenties was just a
lot of building career wise, and also I was a
young single woman for most of my twenties and I
really enjoy at that time. You know, I feel like
I lived a lot of life and I I love that.
(44:07):
And it's funny because people they'll I think I come
off a little unassuming, but like I lived a lot
of life during that time, a lot of relationships, a
lot of experimenting, a lot of fun. I had so
much life, So it was good. And you're lucky because
that sort of got through your twenties before the pandemic,
which was really fortunate because I think for a lot
(44:28):
of kids, you know, at that age now the pandemic
has has really kind of affected them in a negative way.
And I hate that, Yeah, I really do. I wish
that weren't the case. It makes me sad because even
you know, there's a twenty six year old p a
writer's pa, and I talked to him be like, how
(44:49):
you know what's going on? Like are you dating? Are
you going on? And no? He's like, yeah, no, it's
a pandemic. Like we've never he's like in his twenties,
he hasn't really practiced the art of like going out,
meeting meeting people, meeting girls. It's all been digital for them,
even more than it was during the pandemic like that.
It's just become a more singular life. It's kind of
(45:10):
left a pall over I think, sort of people's uadity.
If you will, I agree, I agree, which is which
is a shame it is. I hope they find their way.
I hope so too. My daughter's twenty six, and I
feel like it's it's had an impact on her and
a lot of kids her age. You did the what
(45:33):
was the sketch show called again Quinta that you did? Yeah,
you did that. Um, but this has been obviously sort
of off the charts successful. Do you do you prefer
acting to to writing or if you had to pick
one or one or the other, which would you do?
(45:54):
Or do you feel like they're inextricably linked. Oh that's
a good question, you know what, that's a really good question. Um.
I think now at this point in my career, I
realize that when it comes to acting, I guess I
don't want to just act in just anything I do
(46:15):
want And I feel like every actor feels this way.
So I don't feel especial in saying this, but you know,
I want to feel like I can do I can
do this. Rule Like, I want to have the feeling
of like I not only can I do this, I
will also be challenged by it and that feels exciting
to me. So I've I've gotten offers to do some
(46:39):
other things, and I just feel like, oh, if I
don't feel challenged or excited by it, I don't want
to do that as an actor, I'd rather do something
that makes me feel artistically fulfilled, like a real piece
of the puzzle and somebody else's vision, and that I
can add to it and also perform exactly the way
(46:59):
that they like me too. I like acting, it's just that,
you know, I do. I do enjoy writing. I think
just a little bit more. But but who knows, you know?
I think that for instance, like when I got to
go to the opera role such a small thing that
was so exciting for me and joyful, and like I said,
(47:21):
it was like something where I'm like, I can do this,
but also I feel like it's going to be a
challenge to do this right, and that is exciting, you know.
I think that's that gets any creators blood pumping. And
I respect other people's creative vision so much so to
be able to be a working um cog and another
machine is actually quite exciting to me. It sounds like
(47:42):
you're going to have your hands full too with Avid Elementary,
which I know they ordered more seasons, I mean more episodes, right,
didn't they order? Didn't they order twenty two instead of twelve?
Or like crazy? So they did? It was thirteen for
the first season and this season. Our second season, which
we're currently filming and airing, is twenty two. And do
(48:03):
you see it lasting a while longer? Yeah, as long
as they wanted to and I wanted and we wanted to. Yeah,
you know, I love what Abbott is for ABC, and
I love making the show. Well, I think they love
you and appreciate you too, which is a good and
important feeling. But listen, I'm really thank you very much
(48:24):
for the time. Thank you for doing this interview. It's
really really a treat to meet you. And I'm really
enjoying the show, so continued success with it. Thank you
so much, Katie, I really appreciate it. You can watch
Abbott Elementary on ABC or String both seasons now on Hulu,
and if you want more of Quinta, you should also
(48:44):
check out her book of essays, perfectly titled She Means Well.
Next Question with Katie Kirk is a production of My
Heart Media and Katie currec Media. The executive producers Army,
Katie Curic, and Courtney Litz. The supervising producer is Lauren Hansen.
(49:07):
Associate producers Derek Clements and Adrianna Fasio. The show is
edited and mixed by Derrek Clements. For more information about
today's episode, or to sign up for my morning newsletter,
wake Up Call, go to Katie currek dot com. You
can also find me at Katie curriic on Instagram and
all my social media channels. For more podcasts from I
(49:28):
Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,
Hi everyone, I'm Kitty Kirk and this is next question.
You know, when I told my team I was interviewing
today's guest, they went nuts. Winda Brunson just seems to
have that effect on people. She's the creator, writer, producer,
and star of Abbot Elementary, a workplace mockumentary following a
(00:20):
group of determined teachers and one slightly less motivated but
hilarious principle at of Philadelphia Public School. Guys, I need
a new rug. Mine is officially done. Me too. I
shook mine out and all of the asthma kids had
to go to the nurse's office. Yeah, mine's busted. And
he can't class up a rug like he kind of
couch with a nice quota plastic. He would it do?
(00:43):
Baby booth? Which I think about this low film corrobborading
here distracting makes our jobs harder, but exciting. Were about
to be on TV because they are covering undefunded, poorly
managed public schools in America. No press is bad press, barb.
Look at mel Gibson, still thriving in front of the camera.
Quinta plays Janine, one of the newer, more relentlessly enthusiastic
(01:06):
teachers Behind the scenes, Quinta has created something unique, a
network sitcom that manages to authentically portray the real world
struggles of public school educators, and it's resonating. Viewership of
the show, which is in its second season, is breaking
records for ABC, and it's piling up all kinds of accolades.
(01:29):
For this year's Critics Choice Awards, Abbott has more nominations
than any other TV show it starts or benefiting too,
including Sheryl Lee Ralph, who's getting some long overdue Recognitionminin
Dane Species. You might have seen her emmy speech. It
(01:52):
brought the room to its feet and meet a tears song.
I am a mana, I'm antist and not be. I
(02:27):
caught up with Quinta at the tail end of her
busy production schedule, and she was understandably beat. She spoke
to me during a break between writing sessions in Los Angeles.
It must be so fun to be in a writer's room.
My daughter is a writer for a show called The Boys,
which is on Amazon. Yeah, yeah, and you know, and
(02:50):
I hear her. She does a lot of her stuff
on Zoom. But I've always wanted maybe when I come
to l a. I'll be able to. Maybe you'll let
me sit in on your writer's room. I come to
l A for a month in the winter to see
my daughter to work, you know, remotely, because I hate
cold weather. I just have to get out in New
York City and um, it must be so fun to
(03:11):
be in a writer's room. It is, um, you know,
just like any other working experience. It can vary, you know,
it depends on what room you're in, where you are. Yes,
so my daughter has been in some not so fun rooms, right,
it happens. But I bet The Boys is actually a
pretty fun one. I bet that's a great show with
great producers. I think that our room is made to
(03:33):
be a really enjoyable environment. Um. I have two wonderful
co producers, Justin how Pert and Patrick Schumacher, who really
help facilitate such a healthy room. I I know, for
me personally, I always wanted to have an enjoyable room
where people can feel comfortable speaking, can we can brainstorm easily,
(03:54):
We can be efficient as well as exciting. But we
just we have a great room. One of my favorite
thing about our room is we started ten every day
and we're done typically before four o'clock. That's not that's nice.
My favorite part is you know, we get to go home,
so that's exciting. I would think it would be so
important to have good chemistry in a writer's room and
(04:16):
a good environment where people can riff and have fun
and you know, and I don't know, it's it must
be the strange alchemy because you have to be respectful,
but you also have to feel free to throw out
ideas and not be afraid. Right. Yeah, Like I said,
like in a healthy room, you get to do all
(04:39):
of those things. You get to throw out out ideas,
you get to collaborate, you could be respectful of others.
I think the key to a healthy room is respect,
you know, respecting the other writers who are in the
room with you, their point of view. Um, we just
had a conversation about the episode we're watching. And although
it is my show, and I think in a lot
(05:02):
of other cases people would say, well what I say goes.
I'm always it's not just open to but grateful to
be able to hear the thoughts of the writers and
see making sure that we're all on the same page,
that we're feeling heard their ideas make the show better.
So you have to maintain an environment where people feel
(05:24):
comfortable sharing. And for me, my writing process goes all
the way back to improv, which is the rules of
yes ending instead of no butt. So it's always how
can we build off of each other? Um, how can
we hear each other out and come to the something
that makes the entire room comfortable? And if it doesn't,
(05:44):
let's talk about why and and really get in there
and make something good. So I that's that's an important
part of a writer's room, and when that writer's room
is operating off of that is such a good experience
like that, But it takes a lot of humility for
someone like you to be willing to take feedback from writers.
And what if you feel like you know you want it,
(06:07):
you're you're open to it, but you totally disagree. I mean, ultimately,
it is your name on the show, so you do
you just say, you know, how do you how do
you handle that? Like that's a really interesting observation and idea.
But I like it the way I get it, you know,
I just stay honest. I do. I love to hear
(06:30):
how everyone feels and very often my mind will be changed.
But every once in a while, say Nope. This is
what makes it my show to me, and if I
were to waiver on this, then it wouldn't feel like
my show or something that I'm comfortable having my name
put on, and vice versa, if the thing were to
(06:51):
Most of the time you're getting into that discussion about
something that might blow up, you know, something that might
get get audience feedback that is not necessar saily great.
We haven't had that happen in it with Avid, thank goodness, UM,
but you know, every now and then it happens. We
had a charter school storyline this season that UM upset
(07:13):
a few people who who work in charter schools, And
because that was my decision, I was able to say, yeah,
I own that, Yeah you're upset, and that's okay. I
made that decision. Uh, and I take that fully on
my back because that is what I wanted to happen
in the show. So whenever I do just kind of
(07:34):
say no, this is the way I wanted, I'm also
making sure I'm prepared to take whatever blowback could come
from that decision, which I that's part of the responsibility
of helming a show UM as a creator and just
knowing that if things go South. It's on YouTube. But
also only that I think is really important. Well, it
(07:58):
sounds like it's it's a fun place to work, and um,
and thanks are going so well for you. First of all,
I just want to say congratulations from for all your
success you're Are you still thirty two or if you
turned thirty three? Quina? Thirty three? In let's see what
day it is? How many days? Wow? Wow? Well that's
(08:25):
still your baby. You're very young and you know, oh
my god, honey, you know I'm sixty five, So thirty
three sounds pretty sweet to me. Although I wouldn't change
a thing. No, I feel I feel lucky to be
the age I am, and I feel like everyone needs
to appreciate every year they have on the planet. Absolutely,
(08:48):
but I feel really bad. Things are going so so
badly for you these days. I'm kidding. I feel like
I feel like I feel like every interview must start
this way. Quenta, Wow, what a year you've had. You're
the award winning writer, creator, and showrunner of Avid Elementary.
(09:09):
You single handedly revived the dying Network sitcom. The Hollywood
Reporter named Comedy Star of the Year, and you just
played Oprah in Weird The Aligankovic story. So does every
interview start that way, Quinta? You know most of them do? Yes,
most of them do? Yeah. I can't lie well. I
(09:32):
tried to start out in a more original way, but
I couldn't figure out how to do that. So I
just want to ask you. I mean, how are you
dealing with it? Is it is this thrilling? Is it overwhelming?
Is it a mixed bad? What it is? Um? Over No,
(09:53):
overwhelming is not the right word. It's thrilling. I think
that I focus very much on keeping my feet on
the ground, and I think that's what keeps it from
becoming overwhelming. You know, I think I know what's happening
every day, Even on days where I'm don't totally know
my entire schedule, I'm keeping in tune with what's going on. UM.
(10:15):
I recently had that interview with Oprah which came out yesterday,
and although I have not watched it, I remember talking
about Oprah was talking to me about UM. You know,
her her rise of making her show was essentially a blur, like,
it's just happening. You're just doing your job every day,
(10:37):
and I feel like you probably can relate. You're just
doing your job and and Oprah said that she felt
like for the first time she was able to look
at me and see what it looked like or felt like.
So I feel like that comforted me because I can't
really slow down to see what it looks like. Things
are just happening every day and I'm just writing wave
(11:00):
because ultimately, I feel like I just need to, like,
you know, stay healthy, and it feels good to focus
on my work like that. Um. I think that in
the future I'll be able to look back and just
be like, whoa that this is all crazy, But for now,
I've just compartmentalized it into things that happened every day.
So even talking to you, although you were the wonderful,
incredible kid, Curic, it's like, you know that's in the
(11:23):
calendar is okay, I'll be doing that and then I'll
be going back to the writer's room and then who knows.
I think I'll process it in like three months. At
the same time, have you taken any like moment to
just say, wow, this is so exciting. I mean, it
is kind of kiss met when everything comes together. You know,
it doesn't happen that often, right, And yeah, for you
(11:45):
to come up with this idea. Yeah, write it, create it,
starring it, and birth that. Really I hope you've able
to been able to take a moment to say this
is this is really cool? I think so I think
I have I do. I have those moments every now
and then. I took my dad to a six Ers
(12:06):
game this past week, and um was that crazy? It was,
you know, because I'm in my l a bubble a
lot and getting to go back home is rare, you know,
it's kind of like holiday time. Um. I was excited
to take my dad to that game just because when
I was little, he used to take me to games,
(12:27):
you know, and so I was excited to be able
to do that for him. And were you on the JumboTron? Yeah, yeah,
I heard, I heard I was. But they had us
ring the Liberty bell, which is what you know, celebrities
do at the beginning of the six Years game. And um,
that was a moment where I got to sit and
take it in, like, whoa, I'm able to take my
dad to the six Years game. I'm able to like
(12:49):
sit courtside with my dad and have you know, like
James Harten say hey to me and like the the
you know, the nets and stuff, and my dad got
to meet the legendary basketball player named World be Free.
I didn't know him. My dad's out about him, but
then that you know, he's freaked out. Then later that
guy was like, I love your show, and I was like,
(13:10):
oh my god, thank you, and you know my dad
loves you and you know it took a picture with him,
which was so cool. So it's like moments when I'm
able to do that for my dad or yeah, this
is I have a couple of show. It's the most
you know, odd moments. It's not technically when I'm accepting,
worried or something. It's like when I can do something
(13:32):
very hyper specific for my family. Well, it's I think
it must be incredibly exciting. And I want to talk
to you about your family, Quentin a minute and a
little bit about your upbringing and sort of your slightly
circumlocutious road to creating this show, because you've done a
lot of other things I know kind of leading up
(13:54):
to this point, but but I wanted to focus just
for a minute on the show. I know you came
up with the idea because your mom was a kindergarten
teacher and she used to come home and regale you
all with stories. Did you think, I mean when you
set out to do this show. Tell me a little
bit about your thought process, because I'm so fascinated by
(14:16):
the genesis of an idea. The idea really came when
I went to go visit my mom, and I spent
so much time with my mom in schools. I was
in her class, I went to the school where she
taught for all of the elementary school, and then constantly
was just more than just being a student. Was always
in schools and my mom was very involved, so just
(14:38):
hearing about everything from her. That wasn't until I, you know,
I went to college and moved to l A. And
then all of a sudden, I wasn't in that environment
as much anymore. But I wasn't in that state of
knowing how important or formidable, you know, that environment was
to me and how familiar I was with it. So
(14:58):
when I went back to visit my mom before she retired,
I was just in this environment again. All of a sudden,
that familiarity just hit me in the face. I was like, WHOA,
I forgot how you know this halways smell these floors,
this these walls, man, this is so rich and it's
something a world I know really well that I forgot about.
So I think for me, I like to create stories
(15:23):
about a world I know very well, and I feel
like I like to know the smell of that world,
you know, I like to know all of those kinds
of details. And ultimately, you know, despite what people take
away from when they watch Abbott, I really just wanted
(15:43):
to make a workplace comedy. That was my goal. Just
a twenty two minute sitcom. Uh no more poignant than
then uh, you know any of the other workplace comedies. Really,
I think with a show like Abbott that naturally the
(16:05):
heart comes out differently, the lessons that people learn from
the show, It just comes out because of uh where
me and the writers the places where we could be
right from. You know, we're I think we're big on
humor and humanity and so uh because of that, people
(16:27):
get a lot more from the show. But my goal
is to keep it a workplace comedy. These things need
to happen here the same way that they've happened on
you know, shows like The Office or just shoot Me.
Like it just needs to feel um. So I love
that it's both the sitcom and and sort of the
mockumentary style of the office. Um, and it feels a
(16:51):
little ted Lassoe with the heart and the focus on
the characters, the teachers. How did that come come? Bath?
Did you just say, I like this style, so I
want to have the teachers. I want them to convey
what's happening internally and all that. Yeah. I just thought
it was a great opportunity for mocumentary. I mean, I
(17:12):
saw it as a mocumentary initially. That's just what I
saw when I thought of the idea. But what was
always fun to me about mocumentary is with it you
get two versions of a character. It's just multilayered, which
I think is so beautiful for the mundane field fields. Um,
(17:32):
you know. Yeah. Uh. There's a show that people don't know,
but it was one hbos an Australian show called Jamay
and it was it was very it is really silly,
not the most politically correct, but it was just this
girl going to her prep school and you find yourself
all of a sudden, super into this girl's life, you know.
(17:54):
And I think it's that those double layers to people
that mocumentary provides that makes them more enticing and I
felt like that was really great for these teachers, in
particular in the school like abbott Um, to get two
sides of them, what they showed her the camera and
what they showed to their um uh, their cowork It's
(18:15):
also interesting to watch that relationship develop over time. You know,
a character like Gregory, who kind of wants nothing to
do with the cameras at first, are now finding them
to be the only people. You know, he they that
he can trust. And I think it's fun for the audience,
you know, it keeps them on their toes of There's
so many people who, like in our show, would love
(18:37):
for Gregory and Janine to get together. But you know,
Gregory and Jeanine don't know what the audience knows. They
really don't. They don't know what the cameras know, you
know what I mean, they don't they You guys are
seeing it, but they're not seeing anything really right. Same
thing with Barbara, I mean, all of our characters. There's
there's opportunities for Barbara to say stuff to the camera
(18:58):
about her profession that she would never say to your
co workers. So I just find it so exciting. It's
such an exciting format. I don't think it always works,
you know, like I think sometimes it's a hindrance or
a crutch, but I don't think it is here. It
makes you feel like you're part of the inside joke,
you know, as a viewer when people like glance at you,
(19:22):
even if it's quick like when you were getting off
the ladder and you glance quickly at the audience or whatever.
It Yeah, it makes you. It brings you into that world,
and it makes it feel much more intimate, which I
thought was really important too. I knew that, and once again,
I didn't give it that much thought. I think I
(19:42):
was just moving with the current of the idea. But
there are ways people could look at a public school
like Abbott and dismiss it and dismiss what kind of
love is there and what kind of cares there. So
I wanted people when they watched the show to feel
(20:02):
like they're in this school. I didn't want them to
to feel like they're the aquarium looking in at the fish.
I wanted them to be in there with them, because
a certain kind of care comes from the audience. Then
they want to protect these characters. They want to protect
these kids. They work at Abbot two, they go to
abbit two. Um, I think that that's something that's so powerful.
(20:25):
And yeah, it was kind of like a theory I
was testing and it wound up being true watching people
care so much about these characters and you know, like
want merch want they want the abbot, they want the
most the lanyard, Like why do you want that lanyard?
But you know people want to they feel a part
of it. And that's so beautiful to me, and I
think that's the sign of like a good a good show.
(20:47):
When we come back, Quenta walks me through the often
real life inspiration for her avid elementary teachers. That's right
after this. I wanted to ask you about the focus
(21:09):
of the show because it really, as you know, is
on the teachers. And um, I'm curious what you're hearing
from teachers because teachers are rarely portrayed in such a
loving light I think, and obviously funny too, But have
you heard from a lot of teachers who who say
(21:30):
they finally feel seen? I'm getting tired of that expression,
but you know what I mean. I know, I mean
all the time, all the time, all the time. What
do you hear from them? It's always thank you, thank
you for showing what we go through. And you know,
teachers are interesting because we usually talk about feeling seen
(21:50):
in terms of like race or sex, um, sexual preferences, sexy,
but not with like a profession. And I think that's
what's so unique about teaching is it's this marginalized part
of the government workforce. You know, we we have to
have teachers. We have to No one can do anything
(22:14):
without a teacher. It's just you know, in order for
me and you and I to sit here and talk,
we had to learn English. We had to, you know,
learn so much. And teachers do that and um, they're
paid so little. There overlooked, they're under appreciated. Um, they
should be the most revered next to doctor. You know
(22:36):
what I mean. I couldn't agree with you more so
more than feeling seen for them, it's it's not like
seeing like representation. It's appreciation for what they do, you know,
for their actual work. I think is what they're feeling.
It's like someone appreciates our work. And now the world
(22:59):
is starting to appreciate our work more. We're not just
someone who stands in front of a chalkboard. I would
always have kids say to me, you know the way
they my mom was a teacher, so there will be
other kids in my class who looked at teachers in
this very foreign way. But to me, I'm like, this
is my mom. She comes here, she does this job,
and then she goes home, she makes dinner, she buys
me clothes, she takes me to church, to cheese. She said,
(23:21):
she like five other kids. But to them, when you're
just a student, that's just a teacher, and they they
do stuff, they get on your nerves, and then they
go to sleep at the school and then they wake
up in the morning and they teach you again. And
I think that that's the way a lot of like
America unfortunately, looks at teachers. And I think teachers just
come up to me to tell me, you know, thank
(23:43):
you for appreciating what they do and knowing that it's
more than just babysitting and that it's a hard, hard job. Um.
I'm such an advocate for them being paid more, and
I I don't know who I have to, like, I
don't know what we have to do to get them
paid more, but they just deserve like so much more money,
(24:07):
especially in under resourced schools like like Abbot Elementary Um,
which you you focus on in a kind of funny
but serious way. And I love that you take real
life issues that educators face but do it in a
way that is not too heavy handed. Is it challenging
to to be able? Wanted to kind of weave those
(24:30):
things into the script and not feel like you're preaching. No,
not for me, it's not my storytelling style. Two have
those things way down the script or the scene or
the line. I just think that there's more power and
(24:53):
uh in in showing and telling. And I think we
just did this in the room. It's and I think
it's important to focus on the mundane. And in the mundane,
are the details really? Like if you just listen long
enough to someone talking about doing their job at the airport,
(25:13):
they're just talking. I just talked to someone at the
airport and they're just talking to me. They were having
a casual conversation. But in that mundane conversation, I'm like, Yeah,
that's messed up. That's messed up. That's messed up. But
people are just doing their jobs. They're just getting through
the day, you know, they're just uh, they don't have
time all the time to talk about how messed up
something it is They're just they got to do their job.
(25:33):
They have to do their work, and so that's kind
of how I approach Abbott. These are people who just
have to do their job. They could stop right stop
and talk about the injustices all day, but they have
to teach the kids. That's the goal of the job.
The job is not to talk about the job. It
is to do the job. And I think you so
much more out of that. I loved when Shirley Ralph
(25:53):
was talking to your character about supplies and about not
emphasizing what the kids don't have, but emphasizing what they
have and working, working with the tools you have to
give the kids confidence. And there's obviously a lot of
wisdom from Barbara, who I guess is sort of loosely
(26:16):
based on your mom. Yes, absolutely, not loosely very but
you know what's fun is now the character has taken
such shape and form. It's I love what Barbara with
the Barbara character has become, and I love still influencing
her with my mother, but also watching this character turned
into you know, someone very special. That's that's my most
(26:37):
my favorite part about writing. I can start with inspiration,
but then watching the character take on a life of
its own is so so that's the most rewarding part
about it. That's when you really feel like your character
is alive, and that's so fun. You know, Miss Howard,
you remind me so much of my favorite teacher from
the third grade, Miss Elliott. She was well dressed, good
with kids, a wizard with a glue gun. Thank you, Jenny.
(26:59):
That is very I wanted to be just like her. Actually,
I was like obsessed with her. She wrote my report
card note needs friends her own age, A bit clingy
she was anyway, Hey, did you get my email about
the two of us hanging together after school? Or no?
It must have gone to spam. It's so crazy how
my emails do that with you and nobody else. And
tell me about the Lisa and Walters characters, sort of
(27:22):
the rough Italian um. Of course I loved her in
the parent Trap. But what was the inspiration for her character?
Did you create her out of whole cloth? No? My
mom always had a best friend, no matter where, you know,
for years it was a woman named Miss Facey, and
I love miss Facey. She just always had a partner.
(27:42):
And then when my mom switched schools during the last
five years of her career, she had this friend UM
named was it camera? I think it was Melissa. I
think I just used that name Melissa Michelle or something
like that. And I met her and I was like,
I like this woman, you know, like I like the
role she plays in my mother's life, and my mom
(28:04):
feels very safe with her. They feel safe with each other. Um,
they feel comfortable enough to talk about the silliness of
the school district and the silliness of their principle at
the time, and I just thought that was such an
endearing relationship. And these are two women who are from
opposite sides of the city, different races, different religions, but
their common ground is we gotta do this job. Let's
(28:28):
just get it done. Here's the silly thing that happened today.
And they've been doing the shop for a long time.
So Melissa was super motivated by that UM woman in
you know, Lisa audition for that role, and I mean
really just brought to life what it was. It's in
a tone of Lisa's voice to be both tough and
(28:49):
very subtle and caring all in the same breath. And
she just owned it and made it and I maintain it.
I think she's one of the best. She's really really good.
I love people who can be as subtle as subtle
as she can, and it's like my favorite type of actress.
(29:11):
And I think that Lisa just killed it. And once again,
that's a character that has grown so much. We I
love adding in character traits to that character to make
her turn into a very alive, well fleshed out character.
Who's brend Zino? Is this that is a very powerfully
smelling fish to put in a shared fringe. Don't touch it.
(29:31):
I'm making it tonight at my cousin and nets. I
just think she's the best cook in the family. I'm
gonna show her in a non threatening way. I'm gonna
look cutter than her too. Janelle James is definitely not
so subtle, not know, which is one of my other
favorite parts of the communic spectrum, which is in your face.
But I will say that Jenell's performance of Eva Um,
(29:55):
it's just fascinating. There was no one else who could
have done that job. And jan All has such a
handle on who that woman is. You know, it's a
woman that is utterly ridiculous, but you love her, and
I think we write her that way but Janelle knows
exactly what to do to make it so that the
(30:16):
audience can't help but be in love with her. And
that's something very unique to Janelle. Like I said that
that those auditions were hard, and jen I mean as
soon as she spoke, I was like, we're done, no one.
It's an essence that she can carry of, you know,
making you be both in love with this character but
hate them and you you'd be sad if they weren't there,
(30:37):
but you're mad they're there. It's very very special. Um,
she's so good and UM, I don't know. I'm just
excited to build out more of Ava. There's there's stuff
coming up that I think is so great. The other
great thing about that characters, even when they're small winds
for her, the audience feels justified and being like, see
this is why I like If she can spend the
(30:59):
whole episode horrible, but then if she just says one
right thing, you know, everyone's like see see this is
why I like her. And I think it's really fun
to have a character like that. Let me see these
permissions left to the zoo, and they better be real
because I can tell if you're fake to herb be Hancock.
Oh it's John Hancock. Girl. I know, I'll just say
whatever I want. We learned that. Yet it's funny how
(31:19):
like how complex sort of all these things are in
terms of the dialogue and the plot lines. And I
wanted to ask you two about Tyler James Williams, who
is subtle who Um I've really enjoyed watching as well.
Tell me a little bit about that character and where
Tyler came from. So yeah, I mean that character. Well,
(31:45):
I'll go to the first part. So Tyler. I had
worked with him one Black Lady Sketch Show, and I
just so enjoyed working with him. It was just a
wonderful experience for me with him One Black Lady Sketch
Show that was kind of like my first time um
acting with uh, with the guy with the man and
had that I had to be romantic with. It was
(32:06):
like get in the sketch or whatever. But it's a sketch,
so we didn't have time to like build much uh chemistry,
you know. We had to say our lines and do it.
But I felt as though we had the natural chemistry
that you look for with with all of the actors
in your life, like it's a chemistry I look for
with Janelle with um, you know, with with all of
the actors in my show, I have that chemistry. I
(32:27):
knew it would have to be special though, with the
Gregory Jeanine relationship, since you know, it's insinuated that it's romantic.
And when I was writing this character, I just kept
seeing Tyler in my head. I was like, you know what,
Tyler has the right look for this. I know he
can act it. I know we have a natural chemistry there.
I really hope he can't do it. So I told
(32:48):
him about it. This was during the pandemic, so I
didn't know how he was gonna. I don't know if
he would be one of those people that's like, I'm
never working again. I don't want to. I don't want
to do TV to the Mountain said. I didn't where
it would go. But he was like yeah, he said
that sounds great. And I sent him the script once
it was finished and he was like, I really like this,
and um, he was just like a shoeing. I think
(33:11):
we auditioned some of other people, but no one beat
out Tyler's approach on the character. He just headed down
and so, um, you know, His character comes in very
much not wanting to be here and now, As I said,
watching him grow and he he comes off super suave
and and and everything in the beginning. But one thing
that I'm really proud of in this show is we've
(33:32):
gotten to show his quirks and he still gets to be, like,
you know, to the audience, this guy who's exciting and
kind of a heart throb, but also it is a
dork and has these quirky things about him. All right, man,
you I can't do this. I just don't like pizza.
Said that again. I don't think I heard you, son, sweetheart,
What do you mean you don't like pizza? I just
(33:54):
don't understand the concept of having a bunch of ingredients
just slosh around in your mouth. It's not just pezza
to I've got like four or five things that I
actually like and I just stick to those. Do you
like pie? Fruit should not be hot? And I think
that's really important for a black male character to be
all of that at the same time. And it's just
(34:17):
exciting to watch that character form um through the writers
and through Tyler's performance. That's Tyler is the king of
unexpected choices. And I find it so exciting, you know,
to see what kind of choice he's gonna make. I
absolutely love acting in scenes with him. He and I mean,
(34:38):
I love acting scenes with all of my um all
of my cast members, but him and Jacob Chris Parfetti.
I love acting in scenes with Chris. Makes me feel
like a better actress. Like, well, now that you brought
him up, I don't want to leave him out, you know, like, uh,
he put the off and off right tell me about
(35:02):
him and and and sort of the inspiration for his character.
So the inspiration for his character was kind of like
my um. I had a friend and I have a
friend in New York named Matt, and I love Matt.
I think he would go to the ends of the
earth for his children and was always coming up with
new fun projects and um and just loves his job.
(35:27):
He genuinely does, loves it so much. And he's one
of the teachers in my life that I talked to
the most. And I really wanted to have a character
someone like Matt represented in this show. And so with
Chris's character Jacob, I felt like it would be easy
to say, oh, this white guy, he's being a white
savior blah, blah blah, but like, no, there's more than that.
(35:48):
There's more to him than that, and his position and
why he winds up in the school like this in
the first place, and the choices he makes, and I
just think that Chris had such a handle on him.
It could have easily been a very stereotypical portrayal of Jacob.
But Chris was so subtle, I felt, I love subtlety,
and it still funny and exciting. Hey, do you want
(36:11):
cheesesteaks from the corner store for launch day? Not from there?
The guy behind the counter he calls me white boy. Well,
it's like a term of endearment, and like, if you
don't like it, just ask me this up no way.
There's an entire chapter on white fragility on that, okay,
Robin D'Angel And she says, when you start policing people, who, Hey, Melissa,
can you please tell Tana has He quotes here that
white boy is a term of endearment from the corner
(36:32):
store people. So Zach Gertz, Yeah, for him, it's an insult.
I think he's so funny because he's so earnest, he's
trying so hard, and he's trying I think he's one
of these people who is maybe hyperbolically progressive and and
and really um almost performatively uh progressive in a way,
(36:58):
which is you know, you know, his heart's in the
right place. But and we we talked about that a
lot of One of the main things in this description
for the character and the pilot was he is woke
to a fault, Like is that a bad thing? I
don't know, let's find out. Like I I kind of
(37:19):
dough all of my characters. I don't like to label
people bad or good or wrong or right. I think
the exploration of how all of these different points of
view mixed with each other. So putting them in a
scenario where all of their points of views, you know, collide,
that's the real way to get something good. Instead of
just labeling Jacob bad because he's you know, overly woke,
(37:44):
labeling Janine bad because she's overly optimistic. It's just playing
with those in between gray areas. They give you a
good story. After the break, Quinta talks about her family
and her wild and wooly twenties. So you're the youngest
(38:13):
of five kids, and um, you grew up in West Philadelphia.
As we've established, your mom was a kindergarten teacher. You
were the baby, um, and what about your dad? Tell
me a little bit about your family dynamics and were
you the the family clown. I'm the youngest of four,
and I was like that, Oh, I've talked about the
(38:36):
youngest a lot um being the youngest. Talked about it
with Nick Kroll. Actually he's the youngest in his family.
We've talked about with that freedom you're allotted when you're
the youngest child. Do you feel that too, Yeah, definitely.
My parents were tired by the time I came around,
and I think they were much harder on my older
sisters and even my brother. I agree, um so had.
(39:00):
My dad was actually a manager of parking lots, which
I think was so cool in retrospect. It's funny enough.
I just had the experience that I had going back
to my mom's school. I had the experience. I went
into a parking garage and had to go into the
little booth you go to you know whatever, and I
(39:21):
was like, wow, this this smell, this familiarity. I spent
so much time in these kinds of booths as a
little girl with my dad, and I was like, oh wow,
is my next show going to be about parking lots?
But no, but he was a parking manager. He UM.
My dad's fascinating. I think he is simply everyone says
(39:42):
it's about their dad, but he's one of the best
men I know. And I think he made a lot
of sacrifices to raise so many children. I think it's just,
you know, he had a whole life. My parents were
you know, they were they were explorers, hippies, you name it.
And he settled down in out like a real job
to be able to take care of his children, which
(40:03):
I think is so admirable because both of my parents
is they're they're so talented. My dad was a gymnast,
he was an artist, and they decided that the children
they were having were more important. And I don't know,
I admire him so much for that, I really do.
So you you graduate from Temple and then you kind
(40:23):
of are are searching for what you want to do.
Just tell me a little bit about your twenties, Quinta
um and and how you ultimately ended up making videos
for BuzzFeed. But just just fill in the blanks for me.
The twenties. I loved my twenties, Um, I did. I
really lived it up. I'm so proud of myself, um
to the point where it makes me sad when I
(40:44):
see other kids not doing it. I'm like, no, this
is the time to live it up, be safe, but
have fun. But no, I graduated from Temple, had a
ball in college. Or I'm sorry, I didn't graduate from Temple.
I just left and went out. Came to l A
around twenty three, was it. Yeah. I had some breakups,
(41:05):
had some fun, and then I started working at Apple
out here to help, you know, I had to have
a job, and I explored. I was on my own
and really explored it. Like I had fun. I made
new friends. I um, I went where I could with
the little money I had. I took you know, went
(41:28):
to Palm Springs, went to josh for Street, took the
trips I could take, met people. Um. When I started,
it was around two thousand and fourteen when the platform
Instagram got video, and before Instagram had video just pictures
and you know you that was it. But the video
part really opened up a certain section of virality. I
(41:49):
was already practicing comedy before then. I was doing improv
and I really wanted to make it big. With stage
improv and you know, going to either be on SNL
or somehow find my way to making my own show.
But then, um, I just started making these little videos
with no intention of going viral or fame or anything.
It was just I'll make these little videos for my
friends to watch. Students, This is peces and a large
(42:19):
form a large you got your money, he got money,
get it all. You know. They went super viral, which
was super new for that platform, and I just started
serializing them, which was exciting because it made me feel like, Okay,
I don't know what I'm doing and I don't know
why I'm doing it, but I'm enjoying this idea of
(42:40):
you know, serializing, making sort sort of a universe, sort
of a show. This is what I've always wanted to do,
and it's cool to be able to do it. And
um I had fun doing it and made a lot
of money from selling T shirts with the catchphrases. But
eventually that money ran out and I needed a job,
and honestly, I missed the stability of a job. I
didn't like the idea of all of that being on me,
(43:01):
having to sell T shirts and having to make weird
appearances for money. I was like, I'd rather have a
nine to five than live like this, And so BuzzFeed
came into play, which would up being a perfect job
for me because I was able to be creative, have
an audience, and have a consistent income for a very
long time. I worked there for three years, I think,
and it wasn't I needed that. I needed two having
(43:25):
a consistent check. And over time while being at that company,
you know, my income grew. I was able to save,
which I had never been able to do in my life.
Savings was just out of the question, and I finally
was able to put money away, which wound up being
important for me later um to have money, I could
you know, live off of well, I failed my way
(43:46):
after I left BuzzFeed. So my twenties was just a
lot of building career wise, and also I was a
young single woman for most of my twenties and I
really enjoy at that time. You know, I feel like
I lived a lot of life and I I love that.
(44:07):
And it's funny because people they'll I think I come
off a little unassuming, but like I lived a lot
of life during that time, a lot of relationships, a
lot of experimenting, a lot of fun. I had so
much life, So it was good. And you're lucky because
that sort of got through your twenties before the pandemic,
which was really fortunate because I think for a lot
(44:28):
of kids, you know, at that age now the pandemic
has has really kind of affected them in a negative way.
And I hate that, Yeah, I really do. I wish
that weren't the case. It makes me sad because even
you know, there's a twenty six year old p a
writer's pa, and I talked to him be like, how
(44:49):
you know what's going on? Like are you dating? Are
you going on? And no? He's like, yeah, no, it's
a pandemic. Like we've never he's like in his twenties,
he hasn't really practiced the art of like going out,
meeting meeting people, meeting girls. It's all been digital for them,
even more than it was during the pandemic like that.
It's just become a more singular life. It's kind of
(45:10):
left a pall over I think, sort of people's uadity.
If you will, I agree, I agree, which is which
is a shame it is. I hope they find their way.
I hope so too. My daughter's twenty six, and I
feel like it's it's had an impact on her and
a lot of kids her age. You did the what
(45:33):
was the sketch show called again Quinta that you did? Yeah,
you did that. Um, but this has been obviously sort
of off the charts successful. Do you do you prefer
acting to to writing or if you had to pick
one or one or the other, which would you do?
(45:54):
Or do you feel like they're inextricably linked. Oh that's
a good question, you know what, that's a really good question. Um.
I think now at this point in my career, I
realize that when it comes to acting, I guess I
don't want to just act in just anything I do
(46:15):
want And I feel like every actor feels this way.
So I don't feel especial in saying this, but you know,
I want to feel like I can do I can
do this. Rule Like, I want to have the feeling
of like I not only can I do this, I
will also be challenged by it and that feels exciting
to me. So I've I've gotten offers to do some
(46:39):
other things, and I just feel like, oh, if I
don't feel challenged or excited by it, I don't want
to do that as an actor, I'd rather do something
that makes me feel artistically fulfilled, like a real piece
of the puzzle and somebody else's vision, and that I
can add to it and also perform exactly the way
(46:59):
that they like me too. I like acting, it's just that,
you know, I do. I do enjoy writing. I think
just a little bit more. But but who knows, you know?
I think that for instance, like when I got to
go to the opera role such a small thing that
was so exciting for me and joyful, and like I said,
(47:21):
it was like something where I'm like, I can do this,
but also I feel like it's going to be a
challenge to do this right, and that is exciting, you know.
I think that's that gets any creators blood pumping. And
I respect other people's creative vision so much so to
be able to be a working um cog and another
machine is actually quite exciting to me. It sounds like
(47:42):
you're going to have your hands full too with Avid Elementary,
which I know they ordered more seasons, I mean more episodes, right,
didn't they order? Didn't they order twenty two instead of twelve?
Or like crazy? So they did? It was thirteen for
the first season and this season. Our second season, which
we're currently filming and airing, is twenty two. And do
(48:03):
you see it lasting a while longer? Yeah, as long
as they wanted to and I wanted and we wanted to. Yeah,
you know, I love what Abbott is for ABC, and
I love making the show. Well, I think they love
you and appreciate you too, which is a good and
important feeling. But listen, I'm really thank you very much
(48:24):
for the time. Thank you for doing this interview. It's
really really a treat to meet you. And I'm really
enjoying the show, so continued success with it. Thank you
so much, Katie, I really appreciate it. You can watch
Abbott Elementary on ABC or String both seasons now on Hulu,
and if you want more of Quinta, you should also
(48:44):
check out her book of essays, perfectly titled She Means Well.
Next Question with Katie Kirk is a production of My
Heart Media and Katie currec Media. The executive producers Army,
Katie Curic, and Courtney Litz. The supervising producer is Lauren Hansen.
(49:07):
Associate producers Derek Clements and Adrianna Fasio. The show is
edited and mixed by Derrek Clements. For more information about
today's episode, or to sign up for my morning newsletter,
wake Up Call, go to Katie currek dot com. You
can also find me at Katie curriic on Instagram and
all my social media channels. For more podcasts from I
(49:28):
Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,
Host
Katie Couric
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