Quinta Brunson to play Oprah Winfrey in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story

Brunson shared a first look at her and Radcliffe in character alongside the caption “Let’s get #weird.” Needless to say, Brunson makes a bang-up Winfrey, all fluffed-out hair, puffed-up sleeves and bauble jewelry. Most noticeably (and importantly), Brunson and Winfrey share the same million-watt smile.

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The casting announcement comes after a soaring few weeks for Brunson, who recently became the first Black woman to receive three comedy nominations in the same year at the Emmy Awards. Brunson was nominated for Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series, and Outstanding Comedy Series—at 32 years old, Brunson is also the youngest Black woman ever nominated in the comedy acting category. Brunson’s costars Janelle James, Sheryl Lee Ralph, and Tyler James Williams were also nominated in acting categories.

In addition to Weird, Brunson is also set to guest star on the upcoming reboot of classic catering comedy Party Down. But first and foremost, she is working on a highly-anticipated second season of Abbott Elementary—Brunson shared on Twitter yesterday that production has officially begun. Apologies to the child actors who have to attend on-set school in mid-July, but hey—when Brunson, Ralph and Williams are your teachers, it can’t be so bad.

Although Weird still has yet to receive an official release date, the film will reportedly become available for streaming sometime this fall on Roku.