Whirlwind success made life a blur for ‘Abbott Elementary’ creator Quinta Brunson

LOS ANGELES – The second season of “Abbott Elementary” was a complete blur for star Quinta Brunson.

“I wasn’t processing it,” the recent Emmy winner says on the set of her hit series. “Winning a Golden Globe? Blur. I do not have a memory of that. I have a memory of Tyler (James Williams) winning, but not me physically winning or even the show winning because we were also working while the first awards were going. We were just here at 5 a.m. every day. We were just working and getting the job done.”

Brunson, who also writes and produces the series, didn’t exhale until the writers’ strike started. “The walls came crashing in and I was like, ‘What is going on?’ I was in my office, and I walked past (the book shelf) and I was like, ‘What the hell is that award?’ And I had to pull it off the shelf to see that it was a SAG Award. ‘How did this happen?’ We were working and I wasn’t processing how much had changed.”

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To make sure she’s an important part of the show she created, fellow producers have built in several weeks of pre-production so she can be in the writers’ room and help direct where it’s going.

Quinta Brunson is the first Black woman to win Best Actress in a Comedy Emmy honors for “Abbott Elementary.”

Pamela Littky/Disney

“And then we build in hiatuses every few weeks so that before we get caught up, she’s back in the room,” says Executive Producer Justin Halpern. When Brunson isn’t needed on set, she heads to the writers’ room.

“We’ll literally come down to her dressing room and start pitching stuff,” he adds. “To me, she feels like a writer first. She’s an amazing writer who happens to be an incredible performer. The best version of this show is the version that comes through her. And that’s what we try to make happen.”

In the third season, Brunson’s character, Janine, has a job with the school district, which takes her out of the classroom. That means she’s not in daily contact with her Abbott friends. More important, she’s not in a hardcore relationship with Williams’ character, Gregory Eddie.

“I think the fun of young 20-somethings is really the stuff that happens all the time,” Brunson says. “People kiss each other, they have sex with each other and then, all of a sudden, they’re cool again or not cool again or friends again. Life doesn’t magically turn into something where they never see each other anymore. I thought that was an interesting vehicle for Janine and Gregory.”

“Abbott Elementary” stars Quinta Brunson as Janine, Sheryl Lee Ralph as Barbara, Tyler James Williams as Gregory, Janelle James as Ava, Lisa Ann Walter as Melissa, Chris Perfetti as Jacob, William Stanford Davis as Mr. Johnson. 

Pamela Littky/Disney

Because producers want “Abbott” to reflect current events, they’ve crafted stories about funding problems, aggressive parents and teacher burnout.

“People who aren’t teachers don’t know how much teachers have to do,” Brunson says. In one second season episode, a parent calls out the teacher: “Do your job, teach my kid. I don’t care if my kid is bad.” “We didn’t want either of them to be in the right or in the wrong. We wanted to show what could happen,” Brunson says. After the episode aired, viewers told Brunson they had no idea teachers had to deal with those kinds of issues. “Watching Janine get yelled at on-screen was too much for them to bear. After seeing all that Janine does for her students, it opened them up to reflection.”

Because Brunson’s mother, a kindergarten teacher, served as inspiration for the series, she’s often quizzed about incidents. An episode that focused on after-school dance classes came from her life. Those classes “kept girls off the streets. It gave them somewhere to go, which is why my mom gave up more of her time to do a club.”

Tyler James Williams and Quinta Brunson have an on-again, off-again relationship in “Abbott Elementary.”

ABC

When Brunson let her see the episode, mom turned to her and said, “You’re just going to steal my whole life, huh?”

A fan-favorite around the world, “Abbott Elementary” touches on moments that resonate. Like other mockumentaries, it includes “talking head” interviews with the characters. But there’s a difference. In “The Office,” they’d be taped in their workspace. In “Abbott Elementary,” they’re not in the classroom. Executive Producer Randall Einhorn, who worked on both, told Brunson “these are teachers who are on the move. They don’t have time to sit down and do a talking head in the classroom.”

Renewed for a fourth season, “Abbott Elementary” has the luxury to dig into the backgrounds of all its characters.

“We were blessed with a cast of just absolute heavy-hitters,” says Executive Producer Patrick Schumacker. “Oftentimes, you’ll be on a show in the writers’ room and writers will kind of have favorites they gravitate toward. That’s not the case on this show.”

Brunson, in fact, never asks for more time.

Ava (Janelle James), left, has a quick meeting with Janine (Quinta Brunson) in “Abbott Elementary.”

Disney

“The reason you have this ensemble is because you have an egoless performer who’s leading the charge,” says Halpern. “You cannot make ‘Abbott’ without the way she operates in the writers’ room and on set. It’s something she just intrinsically understands. She’s able to just put her ego wherever she needs to put it in order to make the best show possible.”

“Abbott Elementary” returns for its third season this spring on ABC.

A visit to the set of ‘Abbott Elementary’ Abbott art

In art class, there’s plenty of opportunity for spills…and construction paper. 

BRUCE R. MILLER Abbott library

The school library is stuff with books. No, we didn’t look to see if any were on a banned books list. 

BRUCE R. MILLER Quinta and a bus

Quinta Brunson talks with reporters on the first tour of the “Abbott Elementary” set. The bus, by the way, is merely a photo. 

BRUCE R. MILLER Abbott classroom

A teacher’s home is her chair. And desk. And decorations. 

BRUCE R. MILLER Abbott bulletin board

There are dozens of bulletin boards around the set of “Abbott Elementary.” Many address current events. 

BRUCE R. MILLER Abbott award

Gregory Eddie’s award is prominently displayed in his classroom. Note the tractor. 

BRUCE R. MILLER Abbott planner

Teachers’ desk calendars are in the open and ready to be read. 

BRUCE R. MILLER Abbott phone

Look closely at the old phone. It’s well-used and fingerprinted. 

BRUCE R. MILLER Abbott inspiration

What’s the buzz? 

BRUCE R. MILLER Abbott rules

Rules are meant to be posted. 

BRUCE R. MILLER Abbott visit

Thanks for joining the tour. It’s time to Grow, Solve, Think, Read, Create and Reflect. 

BRUCE R. MILLER

 Bruce Miller is editor of the Sioux City Journal. 

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