Danielle Brooks is over the moon about her first Oscar nomination.
While calling into TODAY with Hoda & Jenna on Jan. 23, Brooks said she learned she was nominated in the category of best actress in a supporting role for her portrayal of Sofia in "The Color Purple" when she got a call from her husband, Dennis Gelin.
"I'm actually in New Zealand right now, and when the announcement came out, it was 2:30 in the morning, so my phone is on 'do not disturb.' The only person who can reach me on 'do not disturb' is my husband," she said. "And he calls, and he said, 'Baby, you did it!' And I'm like, 'Did what? What is going on?' And he said, 'You're Oscar nominated!'"
Brooks noted that she didn't process the information until she turned on her notifications and was overloaded with messages about the news.
"Look what God has done!" Brooks said about being recognized for her work.
Brooks’ meteoric rise in Hollywood has been a long time coming.
While it’s the actor’s first time being recognized by the Academy, this isn’t the first time that Brooks has caught the eye of tastemakers in Hollywood with her riveting performances.
During her stint as Tasha “Taystee” Jefferson on Netflix’s “Orange Is the New Black,” Brooks received multiple accolades, including taking home a SAG Award as part of the ensemble cast. She’s also received nods for her work onstage, garnering a best featured actor Tony nomination in 2017 for her portrayal of Sofia on Broadway, and took home a Grammy Award for best musical theater album.
As one of the five nominees vying to bring home the golden statue on Sunday, March 10, Brooks previously told TODAY.com what it meant to be recognized by the Academy and what it would signify to others if she wins.
“It would feel like ... so many people would be seen,” she said, adding a pause.
“That’s what I’m excited about,” she continued. “I’m excited about the potential of having that and getting to take it home for me. But it’s also about honoring the story that was Ms. O’s (Oprah Winfrey) story. She actually lived as a Celie.”
Winfrey — who, like Brooks, received her first Oscar nomination for her portrayal of Sofia in the 1985 big-screen adaptation — has been candid about how Alice Walker’s book and starring in the film helped her to cope with the trauma of being sexually assaulted as a young girl.
“From the very first time I read ‘The Color Purple’ it was a blessing in my life — because until that time I didn’t know that there was language for what had happened to me,” Oprah Winfrey said following a Los Angeles screening of “The Color Purple” in November 2023.
“I had been raped and had a child at 14, who later died, and I did not have any language to explain what that was,” she said. “That book was the first time that there was a story about me.”
Like the big-screen adaptions, Walker’s “The Color Purple” centers on the story of Celie, a Black girl living in rural Georgia who is raped by her father and forced to give away her two children after they’re born. Enduring years of mistreatment, Celie is sold into an abusive marriage, but eventually finds strength and a sense of self thanks to her stepson’s wife, Sofia, and her husband’s mistress, Shug Avery (Taraji P. Henson), with whom she develops an intimate relationship.
Brooks said taking home the Oscar for telling Sofia’s powerful story would signal something important and profound to those watching.
“(It would mean) honoring all of the Sofias that have ever lived, it would be a win for them,” she said. “So only time will tell.”
