Leave it to Quinta Brunson and her “Abbott Elementary” co-stars to find unique — often hilarious — ways to grab the spotlight during Hollywood awards season, even when they’re not being honored.
Brunson and fellow actress-comedian Janelle James helped kick off the 2023 Screen Actors Guild Awards with a comedic exchange as part of Sunday’s traditional “I Am An Actor” ceremony opening.
As the SAGs camera crew approached them in the audience, the pair appeared to be caught off guard as they enjoyed their dinner. Brunson pointed out that James was speaking with a member of the film crew and no one from the Fairmont Hotel ballroom waiting staff.
“This isn’t one of those kiss-off cams, is it?” quipped James, who plays Ava Coleman on “Abbott Elementary.”
Moments later, James continued to show off his comedic chops, working the “spontaneous” moment into his winning story.
“When I was starting out in the business, I had a recurring stressful dream that I was suddenly on TV, with every star in Hollywood suddenly looking at me,” she said. “Tonight, thanks to the help of my friends, that dream has come true.”
Watch Brunson and James’ “I Am An Actor” clip below.
“,”type”:”video”,”meta”:{“author”:”Netflix”,”author_url”:”https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWOA1ZGywLbqmigxE4Qlvuw”,”cache_age”:86400,”description”:”Actors Niecy Nash-Betts, Bob Odenkirk, Jamie Lee Curtis, Quinta Brunson, and Janelle James tell the 29th Annual SAG Awards what being an Actor is all about.”,”options”:{“_cc_load_policy”:{“label”:”Closed captions”,”value”:false},”_end”:{“label”:”End on”,”placeholder”:”ex.: 11, 1m10s”,”value”:””},”_start”:{“label”:”Start from”,”placeholder”:”ex.: 11, 1m10s”,”value”:”154″},”click_to_play”:{“label”:”Hold load & play until clicked”,”value”:false}},”provider_name”:”YouTube”,”thumbnail_height”:720,”thumbnail_url”:”https://i.ytimg.com/vi/VvGlh8jSqE0/maxresdefault.jpg”,”thumbnail_width”:1280,”title”:”\”I Am An Actor\” | 29th Annual SAG Awards”,”type”:”video”,”url”:”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvGlh8jSqE0″,”version”:”1.0″},”flags”:(),”enhancements”:{},”fullBleed”:false,”options”:{“theme”:”news”,”device”:”desktop”,”editionInfo”:{“id”:”us”,”name”:”U.S.”,”link”:”https://www.huffpost.com”,”locale”:”en_US”},”slideshowAd”:{“scriptTags”:(),”otherHtml”:””},”slideshowEndCard”:{“scriptTags”:(),”otherHtml”:””},”isMapi”:false,”isAmp”:false,”isVideoEntry”:false,”isMt”:false,”entryId”:”63fcdbabe4b08b1402df3e04″,”entryPermalink”:”https://www.huffpost.com/entry/janelle-james-quinta-brunson-2023-sag-awards_n_63fcdbabe4b08b1402df3e04″,”entryTagsList”:”sag-awards,abbott-elementary,quinta-brunson,janelle-james”,”sectionSlug”:”entertainment”,”deptSlug”:”entertainment”,”sectionRedirectUrl”:”https://www.huffpost.com/entertainment”,”subcategories”:”tv”,”isWide”:false,”headerOverride”:null,”noVideoAds”:false,”disableFloat”:false,”isNative”:false,”commercialVideo”:{“provider”:”custom”,”site_and_category”:”us.entertainment”,”package”:null},”isHighline”:false,”vidibleConfigValues”:{“cid”:”60afc111dcf87c2cd2f5d8bf”,”overrides”:{“front_page_top_videos”:{“desktop”:”60b64354b171b7444beaff4d”,”mobileweb”:”60b64354b171b7444beaff4d”},”top_media”:{“desktop”:”60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147″,”mobile”:”60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee”,”iphone”:”60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6″,”ipad”:”60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6″,”androidphone”:”60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c”,”androidtablet”:”60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c”},”anthology”:{“desktop”:”60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba”,”mobile”:”60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66″,”iphone”:”60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6″,”ipad”:”60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6″,”androidphone”:”60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c”,”androidtablet”:”60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c”},”content”:{“desktop”:”60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba”,”mobile”:”60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66″,”iphone”:”60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6″,”ipad”:”60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6″,”androidphone”:”60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c”,”androidtablet”:”60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c”}},”playerUpdates”:{“5668ae6ee4b0b5e26955d6a6″:”60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443″,”56aa41bae4b091744c0440d8″:”60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81″,”5841b2b5cc52c716ec6e5a7f”:”60b8e355cdd90620331ba185″,”58b5e2b8d85a10302feee895″:”60b64316b171b7444beafdb2″,”58b74698f78ced31417819ae”:”60b8e5bec5449357a7ad9b52″,”58b74ccecebcea57e2c3a3d1″:”60b8e5eac5449357a7ad9ca5″,”58cff690d85a100b9992bc39″:”60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba”,”58cffb3fb6d9b972a49a3c9d”:”60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6″,”58cffdd74d96935d7d6ec180″:”60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66″,”58d03a84f78ced6518eb2fa7″:”60b643c82e76be41f112735c”,”592edf20e0fa177b0c26f7fd”:”60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c”,”5b35266b158f855373e28256″:”60b64354b171b7444beaff4d”,”5c116f29f79c4171d82b7c2a”:”60b64440b171b7444beb040b”,”5c1170fc600c9a697bf0c6b9″:”60b646102e76be41f1127ffc”,”5c47791afa1b317df8ae0c4f”:”60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147″,”5c477987a6b48b35f164773d”:”60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee”,”5c4779ee943c3c2a64f28371″:”60b8e747cdd90620331bb861″,”5c477a26fcd67b26879bc7c2″:”60b8e788c5449357a7ada67b”,”5d8921a78c3ae845f366c9b6″:”60ae7be5f3a7c13a30417ff9″,”58b98b00ba82aa39a6534321″:”60d0de7c9340d7032ad1146c”,”58b9d14cb6d9b96c9ec32af3″:”60d0dec19340d7032ad115a0″,”58cff8eccebcea42931e0436″:”60d0e005b627221e9d819d44″,”592edf5de0fa177b0c26f95b”:”60d0e38fb627221e9d81adcf”,”58cff72fd85a100b9992c112″:”60d0e447b627221e9d81b0da”,”56b4d34fe4b022697697c400″:”60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443″,”60b8e4c0c5449357a7ad957d”:”60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81″}},”connatixConfigValues”:{“defaultPlayer”:”ff7fdddc-5441-4253-abc4-f12a33fad58b”,”clickToPlayPlayer”:”d014396e-b366-4c17-aeac-3ce906fa3fd0″,”videoPagePlayer”:”f010447b-d244-4111-a314-7b4542ae4145″,”verticalPlayer”:”e58cb05a-0bc8-4210-9108-fea82726c065″},”customAmpComponents”:(),”ampAssetsUrl”:”https://amp.assets.huffpost.com”,”videoTraits”:null,”positionInUnitCounts”:{“buzz_head”:{“count”:0},”buzz_body”:{“count”:0},”buzz_bottom”:{“count”:0}},”positionInSubUnitCounts”:{“article_body”:{“count”:9},”before_you_go_slideshow”:{“count”:0}},”connatixCountsHelper”:{“count”:1},”buzzfeedTracking”:{“context_page_id”:”63fcdbabe4b08b1402df3e04″,”context_page_type”:”buzz”,”destination”:”huffpost”,”mode”:”desktop”,”page_edition”:”en-us”},”tags”:({“name”:”sag awards”,”slug”:”sag-awards”,”links”:{“relativeLink”:”topic/sag-awards”,”permalink”:”https://www.huffpost.com/topic/sag-awards”,”mobileWebLink”:”https://www.huffpost.com/topic/sag-awards”},”department”:{“name”:”Entertainment”,”slug”:”entertainment”},”section”:{“title”:”Entertainment”,”slug”:”entertainment”},”topic”:{“title”:”SAG Awards”,”slug”:”sag-awards”,”overridesSectionLabel”:false},”url”:”https://www.huffpost.com/entertainment/topic/sag-awards”},{“name”:”abbott elementary”,”slug”:”abbott-elementary”,”links”:{“relativeLink”:”topic/abbott-elementary”,”permalink”:”https://www.huffpost.com/topic/abbott-elementary”,”mobileWebLink”:”https://www.huffpost.com/topic/abbott-elementary”},”url”:”https://www.huffpost.com/topic/abbott-elementary”},{“name”:”Quinta Brunson”,”slug”:”quinta-brunson”,”links”:{“relativeLink”:”topic/quinta-brunson”,”permalink”:”https://www.huffpost.com/topic/quinta-brunson”,”mobileWebLink”:”https://www.huffpost.com/topic/quinta-brunson”},”url”:”https://www.huffpost.com/topic/quinta-brunson”},{“name”:”Janelle James”,”slug”:”janelle-james”,”links”:{“relativeLink”:”topic/janelle-james”,”permalink”:”https://www.huffpost.com/topic/janelle-james”,”mobileWebLink”:”https://www.huffpost.com/topic/janelle-james”},”url”:”https://www.huffpost.com/topic/janelle-james”}),”isLiveblogLive”:null,”cetUnit”:”buzz_body”,”bodyAds”:(“
“How did we go this long without having Janelle James and Quinta Brunson on our screens weekly?” write Blex Media, which celebrates Black artists in Hollywood. “They are comedy gold at their SAG Awards!”
Added another person: “Okay when are Quinta Brunson and Janelle James hosting an awards show??”
Brunson and James’ comedic convo kicked off another winning night for “Abbott Elementary,” which was renewed for a third season last month.
Later in the night, the two women took the stage with fellow “Abbott Elementary” stars to accept the award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series.
In his acceptance speech, Brunson — who is also the creator of “Abbott Elementary” — dropped an F-bomb while praising the cast of the ABC sitcom.
“Being a part of this ensemble makes me a better actor every day,” she said. “So thank you for recognizing the work of these amazing people. They are the best people, and they are so funny all the time.”
She went on to note: “The peer award feels different.”
by 
