Peacemaker Pushed Danielle Brooks Out Of Her Comfort Zone

Time Stamp: February 3, 2022 4:52 PM

HBO Max’s Peacemaker is full of over-the-top gags and horrific amounts of violence–exactly the sort of thing you might expect from creator James Gunn following his DC Universe debut, The Suicide Squad. But actually making the show and landing those gags isn’t as easy as the cast would make it look. In speaking with GameSpot, series star Danielle Brooks, who plays Adebayo, a reluctant friend to Peacemaker harboring some parental baggage all her own, explained that filming the show’s particular brand of humor wasn’t always a walk in the park.

As the season has progressed, more of Adebayo’s own baggage has come to light, creating an interesting parallel between herself and Peacemaker and their strained family relationships. Gunn himself has called Adebayo and Peacemaker’s friendship the “central love story” of the show, though he was quick to clarify he didn’t mean love in a romantic or even physical sense. By Episode 5, Adebayo is the only member of the team on a persistent first name basis with Peacemaker–who is actually named Chris–and the one person to actually call him out on his behavior, though the message isn’t always understood or appreciated at the time.

Thankfully, Brooks’ brand of comedy has shone through in the season as she plays a put-upon straight man to both Peacemaker and Vigilante’s more extreme (and more violent) impulses. “One thing about Adebayo that I think is really cool is that even though sister is very green and very nervous about everything, she’s still able to be one hundred with Peacemaker,” Brooks said. “She doesn’t lose herself in all of it.”

But keeping that authenticity isn’t always simple. Brooks shared some insight into the biggest challenges of finding Adebayo’s particular tone on set. “This was a very different world for me,” she explained, “and it is very much a male dominated type of energy that this show has, and it was just me and [Jennifer Holland] who also had this personal relationship with James Gunn, so she’s already a part of it. So sometimes I did have to try and figure out how to navigate these jokes. Like, ‘if I hear one more dick, I think I’m gonna…(laughs)’ you know? But the thing about it is that you just need to lean into it and not take yourself so seriously, so I did like it. It took me a minute to adjust, but there was a freedom in finding ways to joke with a character like Vigilante or a character like Peacemaker, when that’s not my normal humor or my normal way of speaking.”

And those ridiculous opening credits were just another way to push her comfort zones, she said. “I was a little hesitant, trying to do something like that. It was like ‘what the hell is this?’ Because I hadn’t worked with [the choreographer] yet […] but then all of a sudden I got into a session with her and Jen Holland and it was just so much fun. We all got so excited.”

Peacemaker continues on HBO Max with new episodes debuting each Thursday.

Time Stamp:

More from GameSpot