Career:
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|Born = September 17, 1989 in<br>Augusta, Georgia, USA
|Born = September 17, 1989 in<br>Augusta, Georgia, USA
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|Age =
26
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|Age =
27
|Years Active = 2011-present
|Years Active = 2011-present
}}
}}
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'''Danielle Brooks''' is an American actress best known for her role as [[Tasha Jefferson|Tasha "Taystee" Jefferson]] in ''[[Orange Is the New Black]]''.
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'''Danielle Brooks''' is an American actress best known for her role as [[Tasha Jefferson|Tasha "Taystee" Jefferson]] in ''[[Orange Is the New Black]]
'', and for her Tony nominated portrayal of Sofia in the 2015 Broadway production of ''The Color Purple
''.
−
==Early
life
==
+
==Early
Life
==
Brooks was born in Augusta, Georgia and grew up in Greenville, South Carolina in a Christian family; her father was a deacon and her mother a minister. She began acting at the age of 6 in a nativity play put on by her church. For her final two years of high school, she attended South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts & Humanities, a performing arts school. She studied drama at the Juilliard School and graduated in 2011.
Brooks was born in Augusta, Georgia and grew up in Greenville, South Carolina in a Christian family; her father was a deacon and her mother a minister. She began acting at the age of 6 in a nativity play put on by her church. For her final two years of high school, she attended South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts & Humanities, a performing arts school. She studied drama at the Juilliard School and graduated in 2011.
==Career==
==Career==
−
After graduating from Juilliard, Brooks won roles in two theater productions: the Shakespeare Theatre Company's ''Servant of Two Masters'' and ''Blacken the Bubble''. She left both productions in 2013 to join the cast of the Netflix-produced television series [[Orange Is the New Black]], a show about a women's prison based on [[Piper Kerman]]'s memoir of the same name, as [[Tasha Jefferson|Tasha "Taystee" Jefferson]].
Her character Taystee was originally intended to be featured in the show for only two episodes, but ended up being written into the rest of the first season. Taystee's on-screen best friend is played by [[Samira Wiley]], with whom Brooks has been friends since they met while studying together at Juilliard. Brooks' performance in ''Orange Is the New Black'' has been praised by critics, with one writer from The Daily Beast calling her ''"the breakout actress of the show and one of the most refreshing and exciting new talents of 2013"''. Brooks was upgraded from a recurring cast member to a series regular for the show's second season.
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After graduating from Juilliard, Brooks won roles in two theater productions: the Shakespeare Theatre Company's ''Servant of Two Masters'' and ''Blacken the Bubble''. She left both productions in 2013 to join the cast of the Netflix-produced television series [[Orange Is the New Black
|''Orange Is the New Black''
]], a show about a women's prison based on [[Piper Kerman]]'s memoir of the same name, as [[Tasha Jefferson|Tasha "Taystee" Jefferson]].
−
In
September
2013, Brooks
was
cast
in
an
upcoming
episode
of the
HBO
series
''
Girls
'',
where
she
will
play
the
first
black
woman
on
the show.
+
Her
character
Taystee
was
originally intended to be featured
in
the
show
for only two episodes, but ended up being written into the rest
of the
first
season.
Taystee
'
s on-screen best friend is played by [[Samira Wiley]], with whom Brooks has been friends since they met while studying together at Juilliard. Brooks
'
performance in
''
Orange Is the New Black'' has been praised by critics
,
with
one
writer
from
The Daily Beast calling her ''"
the
breakout
actress
of
the show and one of the most refreshing and exciting new talents of 2013"''. Brooks was upgraded from a recurring cast member to a series regular for
the show
's second season. In 2014 and 2015 Brooks received three awards, one for the Young Hollywood Award for Breakthrough Actress and two others for Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
.
+
+
In September 2013, Brooks was cast in an upcoming episode of the HBO series ''Girls'', where she will play the first black woman on the show. She portrays Laura in the 2014 episode "Females Only".
+
+
Brooks was also featured in the 2012 movie ''Modern Love'' and the 2013 movie ''Black Girls Rock!''.
+
+
On May 27, 2015, the media announced that Brooks would make her Broadway debut in the 2015 revival of ''The Color Purple'' as Sofia. The musical opened on December 10 at the Bernard B. Jacobs, to critical acclaim. Brooks received praise for her performance, and received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical in 2016. In January 2017, Brook won the Grammy Awards for Best Musical Theater Album.
+
+
Brooks was also featured as the character Shanon in the 2015 episode "Indians on TV" of the series ''Master of None''. She voices Comet in the pilot episode of ''Lasso & Comet''.
== Personal Life ==
== Personal Life ==
−
Brooks is close friends with Orange Is the New Black co-stars [[Samira Wiley]] and [[Uzo Aduba]].
+
Brooks is close friends with
''
Orange Is the New Black
''
co-stars [[Samira Wiley]] and [[Uzo Aduba]].
−
==Social
media
==
+
==Social
Media
==
Danielle Brooks' twitter is [https://twitter.com/thedanieb @thedanieb] . Her instagram is [http://instagram.com/daniebb3 @daniebb3] .
Danielle Brooks' twitter is [https://twitter.com/thedanieb @thedanieb] . Her instagram is [http://instagram.com/daniebb3 @daniebb3] .
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+
== Trivia ==
+
* Brooks revealed in an interview that the fith season of ''Orange is the New Black'' will be set over a course of 3 days in prison.<ref>http://www.eonline.com/news/825138/orange-is-the-new-black-s-danielle-brooks-just-gave-up-the-first-bit-of-season-5-scoop-on-the-2017-sag-awards-red-carpet</ref>
+
+
== Interviews ==
+
* [http://www.eonline.com/news/825138/orange-is-the-new-black-s-danielle-brooks-just-gave-up-the-first-bit-of-season-5-scoop-on-the-2017-sag-awards-red-carpet ''Orange is the New Black''<nowiki/>'s Danielle Brooks Just Gave Up the First Bit of Season 5 Scoop on the 2017 SAG Awards Red Carpet] (Januar 29, 2017)
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+
== References ==
+
<references />
[[Category:Cast]]
[[Category:Cast]]