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Before she created and starred in “Abbott Elementary,” Quinta Brunson was hired to work an “adult hotline” — though she didn’t know it at the time.
During her Tuesday night appearance on “Late Night With Seth Meyers,” Brunson, 32, shared the comedy of errors that eventually led to her to acting.
Before starring in her own sitcom, the writer found an audience at BuzzFeed, who scooped up the comedienne after a skit she published online went viral. Since then, she’s lent her voice to multiple animated characters on Adult Swim’s “Lazor Wulf” and to her eponymous character on Netflix’s “Big Mouth.”
But not every work transition has been so charmed, the “She Memes Well” author revealed during the interview.
“So, I needed some money ’cause I was really broke, and I saw an opportunity on Craigslist for some voiceover work,” she began. “And I was like, ‘I want to be in cartoons one day — I’d love to do that.’”
The job listing, as Brunson described, called “for someone to call you up and have a good time” — which sounded “fun” to her.
The ingenue was given a name for her persona — Crystal — and shown a picture of model and trainer Buffie the Body, recognized by many as the woman in 50 Cent’s “So Seductive” music video.
“I had to pretend to be her on the phone for people that called. And it was really gross. I couldn’t get through it,” said Brunson, who quit the job following her first and only call as a phone sex operator.
Despite the hotline’s arguably coded classified ad, it was honest work, she assured Meyers.
“They did tell the truth,” Brunson said. “They said, ‘You will get paid a dollar a minute.’ And I made three dollars that day.’”
In “Abbot Elementary,” Brunson plays wide-eyed grade school teacher Janine Teagues in Philadelphia’s public school system. ABC has renewed the mockumentary for a second season following its successful December 2021 debut. The whole first season is currently available to stream on Hulu.
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