When actor Danielle Brooks steps on stage or the big screen, she brings a presence that’s impossible to ignore.
From her breakout role as Tasha “Taystee” Jefferson on "Orange is the New Black," to her Tony-nominated performance in "The Color Purple," Brooks has built a career rooted in emotional honesty, discipline, and deep respect for storytelling.
But long before Broadway and Hollywood, Danielle Brooks was a young artist right here in South Carolina.
“It was South Carolina that Danielle Brooks was birthed out of. This Hollywood, Oscar-nominated, Emmy, Grammy, blah, blah, blah was birthed out of South Carolina and the people that held me up,” says Brooks. “I owe a lot to South Carolina and my community.”
For Brooks, that community was in Greenville at the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities — a public, residential high school that serves talented students from across the state.
“Governor’s School is the coolest place to go to school. I mean, first of all, you have all the freedom to an extent, you know because you live off campus,” says Brooks. She adds, “It teaches you responsibility in a way that a normal 14 to 17- or 18-year-old student would never get. But it also prepares you for the future and so I credit that place in being my foundation.”
The school has become a pipeline for creative excellence, producing artists, writers, musicians, and performers. For Brooks, it was a formative experience.
“When I was a student at the Governor’s School, you know, we were being taught all of these classical works. We were being taught Shakespeare and Chekhov, and Shaw," says Brooks. “But nobody introduced me in ‘06 and ‘07 to August Wilson to Lorraine Hansberry, so I luckily found that they had a monologue book, so I said let me who this August Wilson is, and I looked and found a beautiful monologue from a character Bernice. And I memorized this monologue and used that to get into Julliard. And then a few years later I ended up being in that play on Broadway with Samuel L. Jackson and John B Washington playing Bernice from that monologue. And so, I just know that the same way in which I had this full circle experience, I pray that for another young artist to have a similar moment where they discover some work that they never probably would have otherwise and now they’re on Broadway.”
And now that full circle moment is bringing Brooks back to where it all started. She hopes to inspire the next generation of performers through the Century Cycle Continues Monologue Competition — a new annual event that invites young artist to join in the tradition of Black American storytelling on stage.
“To be honest, I didn’t even know what a monologue was when I auditioned for the Governor’s School for Arts and Humanities. I was like, how do you spell it and what is this thing,” says Brooks. “Why not teach the next generation not only what a monologue is but how to be confident, how to memorize, how to public speak, how to be in front of 200 people and to put your voice into a room.”
The competition challenges high school students to breathe life into the words of contemporary and classic playwrights of color. Brooks says that the stories of Black playwrights have shaped theatre in profound ways, and she wants to ensure South Carolina students feel that legacy and continue the narrative.
“I wanted to put my voice out into this community and to South Carolina and say that I’m here,” Brooks says. “And I want to be utilized as a resource for the next generation of artists to grow.”
And her advice to the next generation…
“Be fearless. You have nothing to lose. There is absolutely nothing to lose by putting yourself out there.” Brooks adds, “Actually you have so much more to gain.”
Contest details are available through the South Carolina Governor’s School for Arts and Humanities website here.