'I want to be the love interest, I want to put on heels!' OITNB's Danielle Brooks calls for the TV industry to change its stereotypical portrayal of women to reflect 'shifting' definition of gender

  • The Orange Is The New Black star said television needs to 'expand the definition of what it is to be female' 
  • She said more people who are gender fluid should be reflected on screen 
  • The 27-year-old American actress said TV shows should be more open-minded about casting plus-size women across a range of roles
  • Growing up she identified with actresses Countess Vaughn and Natalie Deselle because she said they 'looked like me'

By Miranda Bryant For Dailymail.com

Published: 18:18 EST, 9 February 2017 | Updated: 18:18 EST, 9 February 2017

Orange Is The New Black star Danielle Brooks said television needs to re-examine what it means to be female to reflect the 'shifting' definition of gender. 

The 27-year-old American actress - who said as a child there were only a handful of women on TV she identified with - said the diversity of the Netflix show 'blew her mind' when she first took on the role Taystee. 

Going forward she hopes shows across the board will 'expand the definition of what it is to be female' and be more open-minded about casting plus-size women across a range of roles and feature gender fluid characters, she said on a Netflix panel.

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Next step: Danielle Brooks, 27, pictured left at the Screen Actors Guild Awards last month and right yesterday in New York, says TV needs to review what it means to be female

Next step: Danielle Brooks, 27, pictured left at the Screen Actors Guild Awards last month and right yesterday in New York, says TV needs to review what it means to be female

Progress: The Orange Is The New Black Star, pictured in character as Taystee, said TV should reflect the 'shifting' definition of gender

Progress: The Orange Is The New Black Star, pictured in character as Taystee, said TV should reflect the 'shifting' definition of gender

Brooks said the definition of a leading lady is 'complicated' in 2017. 

She added: 'I think our definition of female and male is starting to shift.

'I know that we are talking about cis women right now but I do feel like there is an array of people that are gender fluid.

'So for me I hope that in the months to come that we really expand the definition of what it is to be female and what that means because there's a lot of people out there that identify in different ways.'

If television succeeds in opening up the boundaries of gender she said more people will 'see themselves' in characters. 

Growing up she looked up to actresses Countess Vaughn and Natalie Desselle. 

She said: 'I was drawn to anybody that looked like me and that meant fat and curvy...it wasn't many because at the time everyone that was plus-size was of a different age group.'

Watching Desselle in Cinderella with Brandy played a part in inspiring her to get into acting.

'They looked like me and they could sing, they were chocolate and they had curly hair and for me I was like "I want to find a way to do what they're doing,"' she said. 

The actress said that being in OITNB is 'a dream' because it has changed her perception of what is possible as a black actress.  

More accessible: The Orange Is The New Black star, pictured left in 2013 and right in September, said television needs to 'expand the definition of what it is to be female'

More accessible: Brooks, pictured left in 2013 and right in September, said television needs to 'expand the definition of what it is to be female'

Reality: The actress, pictured with fellow OITNB cast members Taylor Schilling, Vicky Jeudy and Samira Wiley, said more characters in TV shows should be gender fluid

Reality: The actress, pictured with fellow OITNB cast members Taylor Schilling, Vicky Jeudy and Samira Wiley, said more characters in TV shows should be gender fluid

She said: 'It blew my mind to be on a show, my first show out of school, where there are at least four black women that are series regulars on the same show. 

'There are at least three Hispanic women that are series regulars on the same show. So because everything that I had seen you only get one...

'And so to be in this world it made the possibilities of what TV could be had opened up.'

Since finishing school - when she said she was 'confused' about how to present herself - that her approach to beauty has also changed because of the show where there is 'not one formula'. 

She said: 'You can have a hint of mocha, choca [sic], latte, you can have a hint of fat back, you can have a hint of pimples and zits, you can have that and it's still beautiful because people are seeing themselves on TV, finally.' 

As a plus-size woman she said she does not want her body to determine what roles are open to her.

She added: 'I want to be the love interest, I want to wear make-up, I want to put on heels...

'I want to be in a thriller movie, I want to be in an action movie. I can run up some stuff, I don't want to be limited because of my size.

'I don't want people to feel that I can't do things because or I'm not attractive because of that because we all know that's not true.' 

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