With one Emmy, two Golden Globes, and a SAG Award for her hit show Abbott Elementary, Quinta Brunson is making waves and rising to stardom right before everyone’s eyes. The series depicts the everyday lives of a group of teachers in a Philadelphia public school. The actor both stars in and created the show, showcasing just how multi-talented she is.
Though many people know her solely from Abbott Elementary, the actor originally got her start on Buzzfeed and has since starred in many various movies and TV shows, including Mel Brooks‘ latest project, the long-awaited History of the World Part II. Viewers who want to watch more of Quinta can will be glad to know her Rotten Tomatoes scores are through the roof.
10 ‘History of the World: Part II’ (2023 – )
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 71%
A sequel to Mel Brooks’ original History of the World: Part I, the television series is composed of various comedy sketches that illustrate different moments in human history. Some major events that are featured in Part II include The Civil War, featuring Ike Barinholtz as General Ulysses S. Grant, the story of Jesus (Jay Ellis) and his Apostles, and the story of Shirley Chisholm (Wanda Sykes), the first Black congresswoman in the U.S.
In the series, Quinta Brunson appears in a few of the sketches that feature Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene (Zazie Beetz), appearing as Martha Magdalene, selling eggs with her sister and passing judgments on Jesus Christ, who she calls broke and corny. Ultimately, though, her character is seen becoming a groupie for the band that Jesus and his 12 Apostles start.
9 ‘An American Pickle’ (2020)
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 72%
The comedy film An American Pickle stars the hilarious Seth Rogen as Ben Greenbaum, a Jewish man living in New York whose life gets shaken up when his Orthodox Jewish great-grandfather Herschel Greenbaum tracks him down after being preserved in pickle brine for 100 years. Rogen plays both Ben and Herschel, which makes for hilarious scenes as he is seen talking to himself throughout the film.
Quinta Brunson has a minor part, appearing as an interviewee. The hilarious film also stars the Succession actor Sarah Snook. Though Quinta’s role in the movie is small, she still stands out and can make audiences laugh. Choosing her for a comedy film such as this was a genius choice, as both she and Rogen are talented comedy actors.
8 ‘Single Parents’ (2018 – 2020)
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 75%
The Single Parents television series focuses on a group of single parents who depend on each other for help raising their kids, and who, upon meeting single dad Will Cooper (Taran Killam), decide to help him out and pull him out of the endless parenting rabbit hole he’s fallen into. The main ensemble group of single parents features Leighton Meester, Jake Choi, Kimrie Lewis, and Brad Garrett.
Quinta Brunson had a minor recurring role on Single Parents, appearing as a character named Bess in a total of three episodes. She appeared in Season 1, Episode 3: “A Leash Is Not A Guinea Pig,” Season 1, Episode 20: “Raining Blood,” and Season 2, Episode 16: “Hip$ for Dolores.” This is one minor part in a TV series that foreshadowed her future rise to stardom, showcasing just how funny and talented she was in just a few episodes.
7 ‘Weird: The Al Yankovic Story’ (2022)
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 83%
Created as a satirical look on biopic films (including films like Bohemian Rhapsody, from which the Weird film parodied poster ideas), Weird: The Al Yankovic Story stars Daniel Radcliffe as superstar “Weird Al” Yankovic and tells the story of his life and career, in a mockumentary type fashion. This comedic film was co-written by the real Yankovic and also stars Rainn Wilson among other well-known stars.
In this satire, Quinta Brunson plays the legendary Oprah Winfrey. In the movie, when Yankovic’s album goes multi-platinum he catches the eye and interest of the iconic Oprah who becomes impressed by him. Another celebrity character that appears in the film is Madonna (played by Evan Rachel Wood), and the film also stars Lin Manuel-Miranda, Jack Black, and Will Forte.
6 ‘iZombie’ (2015 – 2019)
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 92%
The iZombie series follows Rose McIver from CBS’s Ghosts as Liv Moore, a medical student who gets turned into a brain-craving zombie at a party. This leads her to abandon her current life and relationship to take a job at the local morgue which grants her access to the brains of corpses waiting to be autopsied. Additionally, she finds that when she feeds, she is granted access to the memories of that person. This leads her to pursue solving all of their murders.
In the series, Quinta Brunson appears in one episode, Season 5, Episode 12: “Bye, Zombies” as two separate characters, Dr. Charlotte Collier and Laila Collier. The actor is seen working alongside the character Dr. Ravi Chakrabarti, played by Rahul Kohli who has appeared in multiple Mike Flanagan projects like Midnight Mass, The Midnight Club,and The Haunting of Bly Manor. He is also set to appear in Flanagan’s upcoming project The Fall of the House of Usher.
5 ‘New Girl’ (2011 – 2018)
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 95%
A beloved sitcom even years after its final episode, New Girl follows Jess (Zooey Deschanel) who moves in with three single guys in the aftermath of a bad breakup. Her new roommates Nick (Jake Johnson), Schmidt (Max Greenfield), and Winston (Lamorne Morris) are all quite different and are going through their own personal issues. They and Jess, along with her best friend Cece (Hannah Simone), form a solid found family throughout the course of the series.
Quinta has a small cameo in the sitcom as a hostess named Annabelle in Season 7, Episode 6: “Mario”. This is Brunson’s very first acting role, and though it was a minor one, it clearly set the stage for her to become the talented and awarded writer, producer, and actor that she is today. Fans of Quinta will be shocked to see her in this minor role, knowing just how funny and talented she is.
4 ‘Abbott Elementary’ (2021 – )
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 99%
The Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning show Abbott Elementary is a mockumentary-style sitcom that focuses on the titular public school in Philadelphia, which is led by the sometimes problematic but overall good-natured principal Ava (Janelle James). She and the dedicated group of teachers she oversees are constantly fighting against the school board, charter schools, and meddlesome parents as they simply try to do what is best for their students every day.
Alongside talented actors like Lisa Ann Walter, Tyler James William, Chris Perfetti, William Stanford Davis, and Sheryl Lee Ralph, Brunson plays Ms. Janine Teagues, a young but devoted teacher who desperately wants to change things. Like her colleagues, she always wants to do what is best for her students, but she tends to go about it in all the wrong ways. The show has also featured guest stars like multi-talented Leslie Odom Jr. from The Many Saints of Newark and One Night in Miami… as well as Ayo Edebiri who stars in The Bear.
3 ‘As of Yet’ (2021)
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 100%
An ode to the loneliness and isolation people experienced during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the film As of Yetfocuses on the main character Naomi (Taylor Garron) who experiences months locked up in her apartment in Brooklyn due to the pandemic. During this time, she deals with a troublesome roommate Sara (Eva Victor) and starts up an online romance with a man named Reed (Amir Khan) that she hopes she can turn into a real-life romance.
In the film, Quinta Brunson plays a character named Lyssa who is one of Naomi’s closest friends. Taylor Garron also wrote, produced, and co-directed the film that premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2021. A special feature of the must-see pandemic movie is that the story it tells is told entirely through digital mediums such as FaceTime calls and online video diaries, which accurately depict the types of conversation most prevalent during that period of the pandemic.
2 ‘Magical Girl Friendship Squad’ (2020)
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 100%
The Magical Girl Friendship Squad series focuses on two struggling young women, Daisy (Anna Akana) and Alex (Quinta Brunson), who are visited by a magical red panda named Nut (Ana Gasteyer) who gifts them with special powers and tasks them with saving the world. The two women are very different but are close friends who live together, and must get their own lives sorted out before they can save the world.
Quinta Brunson’s character Alex is a young Black woman who is incredibly smart and wants to work as a barista. Alongside Daisy, she must work to make enough money to pay their rent on top of being tasked with saving the entire world. In an excellent metaphor for girl power, her powers are stored in her birth control container and many of her special powers are related to periods and birth control. Fans of Gasteyer can watch her in her latest show American Auto.
1 ‘A Black Lady Sketch Show’ (2019 – )
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 100%
A hilarious sketch-comedy show that aims to fill in the gaps where the comedy entertainment industry lacks, A Black Lady Sketch Show features a cast of all Black women, all Black women writers, and the very first Black woman sketch director, Dime Davis. Each episode of the show features celebrity guest stars such as the Oscar-nominated Angela Bassett and touches on relevant themes, including but not limited to religion, mental health, relationships, and an overall commentary on society.
The main cast currently includes Robin Thede, Gabrielle Dennis, and Skye Townsend. Quinta Brunson was previously a main player on the show, appearing in various comedic roles in multiple different sketches during the first season. Since then, she has only appeared as a guest star. However, those who miss her sketch comedy will be happy to know that Quinta will be hosting Saturday Night Live on April 1. Additionally, A Black Lady Sketch Show returns with another season on April 14.
