Danielle Brooks Is a Superhuman in Real Life and in ‘Peacemaker’

Danielle Brooks Is a Superhuman in Real Life and in ‘Peacemaker’

[This story contains spoilers for Peacemaker season two, episode five, “Back to the Suture.”]

Danielle Brooks may not have superpowers in Peacemaker but she sure has proven herself as a superhuman, on and off screen.

The 36-year-old actress, who caught audiences’ attention with her breakout role in the Emmy-winning series Orange Is the New Black and then earned her first Oscar nomination for 2023’s The Color Purple, is showing no signs of slowing down.

Brooks is currently starring in season two of the DC Studios and HBO Max series Peacemaker, which sees her character, Leota Adebayo, not only trying to help herself navigate life’s challenges with a positive perspective, but also John Cena’s Peacemaker. While she enjoys leaning into the “child-esque energy” of the show, her role also represents something much deeper for her.

“I think it’s so important to have Black women in this kind of space,” she tells The Hollywood Reporter. “The action, comic book world is very rare and so that excites me that I can be that representation for people that relate to me.”

Below, Brooks opens up about navigating a new version of her character in Peacemaker season two, what it’s like working with John Cena and James Gunn, how earning an Oscar nomination has only fueled her aspirations and her goals for the future. She also teases the last three episodes of the newest season of Peacemaker.

How exciting was it to return for another season of Peacemaker, especially since it had been a few years since season one aired in 2022?

Just to be able to come back was really great because I really enjoyed being on Peacemaker. I’ve really enjoyed stepping into a different genre, being under the leadership of James Gunn and Peter Safran has been so much fun. Even outside the fun part because for me, I know that’s why I love acting so much. It’s not because I collect the biggest check — which I don’t (laughs), not yet anyway — it’s not all of the perks. It’s really being able to tap into that child-esque energy and getting to explore and be imaginative and just creative, you know, that to me is why I’m in it. 

Another reason that I’m enjoying playing Adebayo is because of what she represents. I think it’s so important to have Black women in this kind of space. The action, comic book world is very rare and so that excites me that I can be that representation for people that relate to me, but then also the LGBTQ community and playing a queer woman. It’s just really powerful and dope. 

After helping to stop the Butterfly alien invasion in season one and building her confidence, your character, Leota Adebayo, is definitely trying to find her footing this season, outside the shadow of her mom, Amanda Waller. Did you approach your character differently this season?

Definitely. Right now, internally, me and Adebayo are kind of aligned ‘cause I really came in not knowing much about the comic world and how I would fit in this world? Would I be accepted in this world? And I feel like that was the same with [Adebayo]. She’s like, I don’t know, can I really do this? And that’s how I felt. So now that I’ve had a season under my belt and she’s had time under hers, we’re both on the same trajectory of let’s live in the confidence, you know, let’s be optimistic that we can do this thing. She’s like gung-ho about finding a job and everybody else finding a job and making the thing happen, but she really doesn’t know what the heck she’s doing. So we’ll see how that plays out for her. This season, I really do feel like she’s just really been the moral compass for everybody, and just reminding everybody like, we can do it. We all are struggling with our things, you know, we watch [Adebayo] going through tough times with her wife and what she’s losing because of the sacrifice she’s made for the team. But somehow she really is trying to stay so positive about everything. 

This season, viewers have also seen Adebayo be someone Peacemaker can rely on as he figures out his life too. What was it like having a better relationship with John Cena’s character this season after the ups and downs of season one?

It’s great to work with John Cena. Like I really enjoy that guy. We’ve become really good [friends], which was kind of surprising to me. I mean, he’s a warm person, but we are just so different. So I’ve really enjoyed our conversations. As far as their relationship, it has been nice for [Adebayo] to know that Peacemaker does trust her and what she says is valuable to him. But they really are cut from the same cloth. They’re dealing with the same issues. They both want love, they both want the love of their parents, but also know that they have to forge their own path and not be who they came from. So they are both struggling internally on what to do and so I think [Adebayo] is just giving Peacemaker the same advice she’d probably give herself. 

Starring in a show full of superheroes and superpowers, how does it feel to be this highly intelligent and skilled human agent?

It’s really cool. I don’t want to spoil anything, but I’ve been enjoying it. Yeah, I don’t have like specific superpowers and stuff, but she uses what she has. And the way in which James has presented Adebayo, I’ve still gotten to have a lot of fun. Like I got shot out of a cow last season and harnessed, even though I hit my head into a wall (laughs). But there’s so many fun things that I’ve gotten to do and even in season two that we haven’t seen yet. So as an actor, like, bring it on. This is what I live for. I enjoy this stuff and I hope that James decides to expand it. I hope that we can see more of Adebayo and see her with her mom in that dynamic. 

Did it feel any different working with James Gunn this season, because when you filmed season one, he wasn’t named the co-head of DC Studios yet?

The one thing I know about James, I can confidently say he’s one of the hardest-working people I’ve known. That aspect of him has not changed. I think there is more pressure for him, but I think he also handles pressure really well, because for him it’s all about the story and not so much about, will people like this? I think he does start from, will I like this? Do I gravitate towards it? I think that’s so cool, and as I’m starting to delve into different things — I’ve started to write and I’m starting to direct myself — I’m in such admiration of him as a storyteller because he doesn’t hold anything back. You can see that in his humor and how he writes and how vulgar it can be at times or how action-packed it can be, like he really says this is what I want and I’m going for it and let’s do it. … But I don’t think there was a big difference. I think he’s stepping into a role that he’s more than capable of doing and he truly is the right person for the job. You spend one day on a James Gunn set with him and you know he’s gonna hold DC down, and clearly it’s working.

At the end of episode 5, the gang sets out to bring Peacemaker back from this other dimension. What can fans expect from the last three episodes of season two?

Oh my gosh, you’re gonna continue to see double. I’m not gonna say of who, but get ready to see more double. And it’s gonna be emotional, heartbreaking, heartwarming, and then there’s gonna be moments you’re gonna be like, WTF (laughs). You’re gonna go through a lot of emotions, like prepare yourself for that. 

But it’s some beautiful work, and I just watched the Emmys the other day and I would hope that people would start to pay attention to shows like this as well and consider them, because the work that my castmates have brought this year, the crew have brought this year, has been phenomenal, but specifically John Cena. His work these last three episodes of season two really deserves some attention, in my opinion. So I’m just saying don’t sleep on the comic book world, you know. 

Looking back at what you’ve accomplished so far, such as starring in the Emmy-nominated series Orange Is the New Black and earning an Oscar nom for your role in The Color Purple, how do these milestones and achievements impact the way you view your career going forward?

Hell yeah! First of all, tomorrow [Sept. 17] is my birthday. I’m 36 tomorrow, and so it’s strange to me that I’ve been able to accomplish the things that you mentioned at this age because in my head when I was 21, I was admiring people like Viola Davis and Regina King. But specifically Viola Davis and just feeling like, man, it’s not gonna happen until late 30s, early 40s. Like it’s gonna just take so long for me to achieve the thing. And it does take time (laughs), but it definitely did not take as much time as I thought it was going to. So with these milestones that I’ve been able to hit, I feel like the sky is the limit. I feel like there’s nothing that I can’t achieve or do, and I’m always trying to be a little learner. … When I’m around people like [Samuel L.] Jackson and The Piano Lesson and his wife who’s directing a Broadway show for the first time with incredible stars and all this amazing crew, oh yeah, like I can do that too. It’s just always these reminders of you get to create the life that you want, as long as I could stay in the mindset of educating myself, there’s nothing that I can’t do. 

Is there a specific moment when you were younger when you realized acting was your dream career?

I remember being in high school and I had just gotten accepted into Juilliard for doing the monologue from Piano Lesson. And so the school had me do the monologue for some donors and they were all like white women in their 60s. At first I was like, yo, how are these women going to relate to this story? ‘Cause this is about ancestors and slavery and taking back what’s ours and I just don’t understand how they’re gonna relate. When I finished that monologue, when I tell you all of those women, which was probably like 12 or so, all came up to me and was like, “I totally relate to this. I have a family heirloom that means so much to me,” and “I miss my grandmother,” or whatever it was, like they were pouring into me how much that the specificity of my work they could see themselves reflected in. That changed the game. I was like, oh my gosh, this is the power of acting, like you can touch people who don’t know anything about your world. 

Looking ahead a bit, where would you like to see yourself in the next five years career-wise?

A feature film supported by a major studio. That’s what I want. My own feature film that I wrote or co-wrote with someone that has been taken in by a studio and mass distributed, like that would be dope. … I say co-wrote because I’m open to collaborating, but I also wanna have more control. I don’t want to continue to just wait for the industry to say, “OK, we got something for you.” I want to create my own opportunities, but I also want to showcase other people that I feel are talented that the world might just not know yet.

What does your perfect day off from work look like?

Me chilling. Getting to take a walk or I do like to exercise, so getting some kind of exercise in ‘cause that’s helpful for my mental [health] and for my figure (laughs). And then it would be eating cake (laughs). I know that’s so bad. And watching a good movie or going down a rabbit hole on YouTube for a little bit. And playing with my daughter, asking her how her day went and not having to clean up any dog poop. That’s a good day. 

If you had to describe what makes Danielle Brooks, Danielle Brooks, what would you say?

I’m a really kind-hearted, thoughtful person who has to express herself. I say that because when I’m not working, you best believe my wheels are turning on how I can be creative. So that’s important to me. And just trying to be the best human I can be and raise the best kid I can.