Award Shows February 27, 2023
Why Quinta Brunson Cried While Filming ‘Sesame Street’ (Exclusive)
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It was a big night for Quinta Brunson and “Abbott Elementary” at the 2023 SAG Awards, where they took home the win for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series.
“Extra’s” Rachel Lindsay spoke with Quinta backstage about how “surreal” her journey has been with the show, which really hit home while filming her upcoming appearance on “Sesame Street”!
Quinta noted, “Sometimes with ‘Abbott,’ everything has moved very fast and we’ve been in a vacuum, making the show for the first two seasons… It’s hard to feel those moments. Even these award shows have been in the middle of us being in production. I can feel them a little differently now that we’re not in production, but one surreal moment for me was doing ‘Sesame Street.’”
While she can’t say much about her episode, she commented, “Doing that hit me in a way where I was like, ‘Wow, we are making an impact, this is a show that represents learning and joy and the American people, and the people I very much want to reach out to.’”
She went on, “The fact that I was on that set and almost cried, I think, like, everything started hitting me about, you know, what we’ve done this year.”
Quinta also aims to create a positive working environment on the set of “Abbott Elementary.” She stressed, “Sets don’t have to be bad environments. I come from worlds where that didn’t have to be the case, whether it be where I was, you know, in school, my family. I always had wonderful environments… It kind of got misconceived that like people have to be mean and angry; I don’t think it has to be that way to make good work.”
Rachel also spoke with Quinta’s co-stars Sheryl Lee Ralph, Tyler James Williams and Jacob Hill backstage at the SAG Awards after their win for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series.
Tyler James showed some love for Quinta’s leadership, saying, “Quinta has found a way to give us a fun atmosphere while also turning out a high quality product, which is difficult.”
Sheryl added, “She intentionally put each one of us together and it was in her mind, the great vibe, the talent of the people, and this is what we get and it feels so good.”
