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For Joy Sunday, life has always been a mixture of ambition and artistry. As a self-described “Type A” personality, acting is the singular focus in Sunday’s realm leaving little room for a backup plan.
“I’ve never been somebody to have an average day, truthfully,” Sunday reflects on a journey that began in the theater spaces of New York and led her to the global stage. Even when the road was paved with survival jobs and the uncertainty of the Hollywood audition circuit, her focus remained unwavering. “Everything I was doing was attuned to being able to act.”
It is almost unbelievable that the phenomenal actress we see today once struggled with debilitating stage fright. The anxiety stemmed from an early theater program where she felt unsupported, but Sunday transformed that vulnerability into strength. “I held that dear—knowing how scared I was on that stage and where I am now,” she says. Sunday credits those early hurdles as the force that pushed her to become resourceful, a quality she believes is essential for young Black actors navigating traditional acting spaces. “While I have this kind of contentious past with the theater programs I was in, they made me be resourceful on my own and understand the business in my own way.”
After being spotted in projects like Bad Hair and Shithouse, Sunday’s life changed forever in 2022 with the audition for Bianca Barclay. In a move that is a rarity in the industry, Sunday spent two hours on a four-page audition for Netflix’s live-action Addams Family spinoff, Wednesday. “Something they always tell you as an actor is that you’re auditioning for the room,” she explains. “I put all of my power into making sure that this was the perfect audition. I also deeply relate to Bianca—being someone who’s soft, empathetic, and loving, while still having a hard shell.” That dedication allowed her to bring a necessary complexity to Bianca, a dark-skinned girl in a gothic horror landscape who demanded to be seen as more than just a side character.
This sense of agency extends far beyond the script and into the way Sunday presents herself to the world. For her, beauty and fashion are not just red-carpet requirements, but tools for personal storytelling. “I like to think of my face as a canvas,” Sunday says, noting that her relationship with makeup only truly began in her twenties. Having shaved her head for over a decade, Sunday learned to use beauty to celebrate the features she was once taught to hide. “In shaving my head, I kind of accentuated the very things that I would often be made to feel insecure about. It thankfully forced me to actually realize how beautiful I am by myself,” she says, viewing her aesthetic choices with the same creative spark she brings to her roles.
Sunday’s evolution is now taking her behind the lens. Returning to her filmmaking roots through a project with YoungArts titled Take One, she recently directed for the first time in a decade. The “high-stakes” performance series challenges artists to rehearse and record a one-take musical, dance, or theatrical performance in just 60 seconds. “After having been away for so long, you kinda tell yourself you can’t do it,” she admits. “That was really important to restore that faith in myself.”
Eager to use her growing influence to shift the media landscape, Sunday advocates for a revival of Black storytelling rooted in wit, charm, and whimsy—specifically within the action and rom-com genres. This peak in confidence helped her transition into more mature, grounded roles, such as Detective Jodie Plumb in the HBO limited series DTF St. Louis. Starring alongside Jason Bateman and David Harbour, Sunday plays a sharp, determined special crimes officer who isn’t afraid to question a suburban murder investigation. “Jodie is unperturbed by others’ doubts of her abilities,” Sunday details. “Jodie’s openness and curiosity prove vital in the course of the investigation. Curiosity has taken me very far in my own life, and I think the world could use a little less conviction on defining what’s ‘normal.’”
Sunday admits that stepping into the role was daunting, but it ultimately served as a transformative experience. “I’m scared witless to see what the world thinks, but I’m so proud of the growth I experienced on DTF and wouldn’t change a thing.” The shifting nature of Hollywood doesn’t intimidate Sunday; it only serves as motivation. She remains a firm believer in the power of artists to act as a “balm to the world” during times of despair.
“I could never sit back and rely on the system that exists to put me where I wanna be,” she asserts. “I kind of have to do it on my own, or with others. I think art can galvanize folks to care and to understand and empathize. I am not carefree. I am not aloof. I am present, I am active, and I am empowered.” Whether she is hunting for leads or directing her next project, Joy Sunday is living life entirely off-script.