Quinta Brunson Reveals She Was Going to 'Move Back Home' if “Abbott Elementary ”Wasn’t Picked Up

"Really I mainly needed a job," Brunson told Jennifer Aniston in 'Variety's Actors on Actors' series

Quinta Brunson is a star now, but it was a long road to get there.

In an interview with Jennifer Aniston for Variety's Actors on Actors series, Brunson, 34, revealed that before her hit series Abbott Elementary got picked up, she was getting discouraged about her future in the entertainment industry. She ultimately decided to give herself one more chance with Abbott before she leaving Los Angeles.

“Really I mainly needed a job,” the actress and producer told Aniston, 55, who noted that is how many actors get their start. “I sold a pilot to CBS and I sold a pilot to HBO Max. Neither of those went, but Abbott was the one that, if Abbott didn’t get picked up, I was going to move back home.”

Related: Quinta Brunson Talks Confidence, Oprah and Her Surprising Journey to Making 'Abbott Elementary'

By that point, Brunson revealed she was “broke," working at Buzzfeed as a video producer and doing stand up gigs with coworker Justin Tan. It was around that time that Brunson realized how the internet could help her grow her career.

“When I first started using the internet as a stage — I really looked at it as this other stage that opened up to us — I was doing improv, I was doing standup,” Brunson said. “Even when I was at Buzzfeed, my goal was one day to make a sitcom and one day to act in a sitcom.”

One day, Tan asked Brunson to help make a video for $250 — and because she needed the money — she took the job.

“Then I went there and saw what they were capable of doing,” she said. “I just saw that I could probably get my feet wet in terms of making something similar to a sitcom.”

Related: Quinta Brunson Sees Daniel Radcliffe on Broadway After Saying She Wants Him to Star on Abbott Elementary

Taking skills from video-making and producing, she created Abbott Elementary. When the show was picked up, Brunson said she felt like all her work had paid off.

Now, she and Tan not only work together as co-writers of the show, but they are also writing a movie together, Brunson revealed. She also told Aniston, who complimented the comedic art of Abbott, that a lot of her inspiration also came from Friends.

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“I just want you to know, I learned about the beauty of an ensemble through watching Friends,” Brunson told The Morning Show actress.

“Well, you just gave me goosebumps,” Aniston replied. “You really do all seem to have a really beautiful relationship and chemistry — it’s just perfection.”

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