Danielle Brooks Talks The Importance of Curvy Girl Confidence, Labels and Whose Style She'd Steal

To say that Danielle Brooks is winning would be an understatement.

Not only is the 27-year-old actress who first rose to fame as Taystee on Netflix’s hit comedy Orange is the New Black now shining on Broadway in her role as Sophia in The Color Purple but she just happens to be the face of Lane Bryant’s fall 2016 #ThisBody campaign.

As if that wasn’t enough, Brooks has partnered with Refinery 29 for their 67% Project, aimed at opening the conversation about the representation of plus-size women in media.

Her current roles seem fitting to say the least as the curvy size 14 actress dubbed herself the #VoiceoftheCurves long ago and has been a champion for body positivity since she hit the scene.

Following a heartfelt during Refinery 29’s The Every Beautiful Body Symposium, Brooks sat down to chat with ESSENCE about what it really means to be a curvy girl.

When it came to curvy girl stigmas and having confidence despite the lack of representation, Brooks had a lot to say about her own personal experience.

Our Digital Beauty Editor, @DominiqueHobdy sat down to chat with @thedanieb today! Here's what she had to say about the curvy girl stigmas pic.twitter.com/o50wkevMAp

— ESSENCE (@Essence) October 27, 2016

Another important part of the conversation regarding the 67% is reshaping our ideas about the labels that have so long been associated with being curvy. When asked about “plus size” Brooks revealed that that isn’t the word she’s most concerned about.

.@thedanieb shares how she feels about the ‘Plus Size’ label with our Digital Beauty Editor, @DominiqueHobdy! #SeeThe67 pic.twitter.com/mdSddHzvgO

— ESSENCE (@Essence) October 27, 2016

When it comes to the ultimate style crush — we all have that one (or two) women whose style we’d channel with no shame. For Danielle, there are two stylish ladies whose wardrobe she has her eye on.

Can you guess who @thedanieb's ultimate style crush is? #Seethe67! pic.twitter.com/Cqn2iMrWxA

— ESSENCE (@Essence) October 27, 2016

We think it’s safe to say that Danielle Brooks is our new style crush.