Why The Actress In The Turbotax Super Bowl Commercial Looks & Sounds So Familiar

It's a rite of passage for celebrities to do Super Bowl commercials during the big game, and that means actors and pop culture personalities make their debuts each year. For Super Bowl LVIII, breakout comedy star Quinta Brunson will lead her first-ever big game ad campaign on behalf of TurboTax.

Brunson — who told late-night host Jimmy Kimmel that she personally uses TurboTax and is glad to represent a product that's actually helpful to her — will star in a Super Bowl commercial for the software that helps out millions of Americans with their taxes every year. What might happen in that commercial remains to be seen; all we've got so far is a teaser starring Brunson, and the real ad will air during the February 11 showdown between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers. So, where have you seen and heard Brunson before? Probably a handful of places, considering that she's an Emmy-winning writer and actress who currently leads one of television's biggest sitcoms.

There's no question that Quinta Brunson's biggest and most high-profile role is as Jeanine Teagues on ABC's massive hit "Abbott Elementary." However, Brunson does more than just star as Jeanine, a big-hearted teacher working against the odds at an underfunded elementary school in West Philadelphia. Brunson's own mother worked as a teacher in Philadelphia — where Brunson herself was born and raised — and as a lifelong lover of television sitcoms, Brunson set out to make one that doesn't mince words about the fact that public schools in cities like Philly rarely receive the funding and support they sorely need.

The show — which kicked off its 3rd season just before the Super Bowl on February 7 — has earned Brunson a slew of awards, including Emmys for both writing and acting, as well as a Golden Globe for best actress – television series musical or comedy. "Abbott Elementary" is one of the most popular shows of its genre right now, thanks largely to Brunson's extensive work on the series as well as her heartfelt approach to this very personal story. Flanked by an incredible supporting cast that includes Sheryl Lee Ralph, Tyler James Williams, Lisa Ann Walter, Chris Perfetti, and Janelle James, Brunson is in excellent company ... but it's all thanks to her that we have "Abbott Elementary" in the first place.

Even in a supporting role, Quinta Brunson manages to shine — and that's certainly true of her appearances on the final two seasons of "Miracle Workers." The series, created by comedy writer and novelist Simon Rich, is an anthology that utilizes the same core cast members but tells a totally different story each time, with Daniel Radcliffe, Steve Buscemi, Geraldine Viswanathan, Jon Bass, and Karan Soni among the ensemble. 

For Season 3, Brunson appears as Trig, the estranged adopted daughter of the hapless outlaw Benny the Teen (Buscemi), who in turn is being transported on the Oregon Trail by the kindly Reverend Zeke (Radcliffe). To say Trig and Benny don't get along is an understatement. In fact, they spend most of the season as nemeses, but when Benny tells his daughter he's proud of her for surpassing him as an outlaw, he ends up joining her gang. Brunson then appeared in a smaller role on the show's 4th and final season, "End Times," as a post-apocalyptic administrator.

As of this writing, Quinta Brunson has worked with Daniel Radcliffe twice — on both "Miracle Workers" and the former "Harry Potter" star's turn as parody singer Weird Al in "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story." So, who does Brunson play in "Weird?" That would be iconic talk show host and media personality Oprah Winfrey.

In this wildly fictionalized version of Yankovic's life — engineered by the "Eat It" singer himself — Yankovic (Radcliffe) experiences a huge career surge shortly after he books his first record deal and witnesses the artists whose songs he's parodied experience a "Yankovic bump." That's when he ends up appearing on Oprah's talk show within the universe of the film, with Brunson donning a red suit and imitating Oprah's hairstyles of yore. During a January 2023 interview with Winfrey herself, Brunson laughed with the host about playing her ... but it certainly seems as if Winfrey was okay with the portrayal.

Animated work is a fun, decently lucrative gig if you can get it — and Quinta Brunson has lent her voice to a variety of projects. From 2019 to 2021, Brunson appeared as both "Quinta" and "Girl" on the Netflix original series "Big Mouth" and was in the main cast for Adult Swim shows "Lazor Wulf" and "Magical Girl Friendship Squad" in that same timeframe. In 2022, Brunson performed on the Pixar miniseries "Cars on the Road," a part of the massively successful "Cars" franchise. 

Perhaps her most notable animated role as of this writing, though, is as DC superhero Hawkgirl on the critically beloved Max series "Harley Quinn." Led by Kaley Cuoco as Harley, the show features a murderer's row of voice actors — and in the Season 3 episode "A Very Problematic Valentine's Day Special," Brunson appears as Hawkgirl. Not only that, but her "Abbott Elementary" co-star and love interest Tyler James Williams shows up at Hawkman — a perfect Easter egg centered around Brunson's most popular project.