Abbott Elementary creator, Quinta Brunson, revealed that horror king Jordan Peele’s career trajectory helped inspire her to create her award-winning series.
“I really admire Jordan Peele’s career,” she said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “Just for making the leap to a whole other genre and killing that sh-t.”
Peele made his directorial debut with 2017’s Get Out. The horror flick took $255 million at the box office and earned him a slew of accolades. He went on to recreate his magic with the 2019 movie, Us and the 2022 feature film, Nope.
“I don’t know if I’d necessarily want to do it, but it’s inspiring that he did. I love people who inspire me to feel that if I ever want to change my mind, I can,” she Brunson continued. “I think that’s what he proved, big time — especially as a sketch person. It’s not that you need the proof, but it’s nice to see someone do it.”
Brunson made history this year when the three Emmy nominations for Abbott Elementary made her the first Black woman nominated in three comedy categories in the same year. She also made history as the youngest Black woman ever nominated as an actress in comedy.
Thanks to Peele, her success did not come as a surprise.
“I felt very prepared for what was to come with ‘Abbott Elementary.’ There was something about making a pilot, and everyone involved felt it,” she added. “I did a pilot once where I was like, ‘Oh my God. If this goes, I don’t know what I’m going to do. I am going to hate my life. I don’t want to move to Vancouver. This show isn’t that special.’ It would’ve been my nightmare if that pilot had gone. Whereas with ‘Abbott Elementary,’ it was like, ‘If this doesn’t go, I don’t know what I have to give to the world because this is the best I can do.’ I could see us winning awards. I could see us becoming really popular.”
