NEW YORK – Was it an interview or an unburdening? As she wiped away tears, Danielle Brooks confessed she could not tell the difference.

“New York Times therapy session, you got me going,” she said, chuckling as she cried.

It was Valentine’s Day, and we had met on a video call to discuss the 34-year-old American actress’ first Oscar nomination, for playing the indomitable Sofia in director Blitz Bazawule’s big-screen musical, The Color Purple.

Although she had been too busy filming the upcoming Minecraft adventure movie in New Zealand to fly to that week’s Oscar nominees luncheon in Beverly Hills, Brooks had spent the past few days wrapping her head around the kind of company she now kept.

Also competing in her category are Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer), America Ferrera (Barbie), Jodie Foster (Nyad) and front runner Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers).

“It’s been really emotional,” the supporting actress contender said. “There are five African Americans nominated in actor categories this year and only two black women, and to be one of them means a lot to me.”

This is also the culmination of a long arc that Brooks has experienced alongside The Color Purple.

As a teenager, she was so blown away by the Broadway musical (2005 to 2008) that it inspired her to pursue acting. Later, after shooting to fame as prison inmate Taystee on the Netflix series Orange Is The New Black (2013 to 2019), she won the role of Sofia in the 2015 stage revival of The Color Purple.

Tony-nominated for that turn, Brooks nevertheless auditioned for six months to play the same part in Bazawule’s film, a decades-spanning tale of Celie (American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino), who faces many hardships in her life but ultimately finds strength and hope in the unbreakable bonds of sisterhood.

Brooks is proud of everything she was able to bring to her robust performance, which finds Sofia singing the anthemic “Hell no!” before going through the emotional wringer, imprisoned for refusing to be a white woman’s maid.

“It really did deplete me – physically, mentally, spiritually,” Brooks said. “I was drained at the end of doing this part.”

Although she is “beyond grateful” for her Oscar nomination and nods from the Screen Actors Guild and British Academy Film Awards, Brooks was candid about how much work goes into forging a screen career like hers.

It is hard not to take some setbacks personally, she said, noting that though she participated in the 2022 Broadway revival of August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson, the forthcoming movie version recast her role with Danielle Deadwyler.

How do you balance those losses with the wins afforded by an awards season run? Brooks was still trying to figure out the healthiest path forward.

“It can really get to you if you’re not in a good headspace,” she said. “Without all the accolades, do you know your value and worth? That’s always the question that keeps rolling in your head, and that’s what is hard about this industry: What is the legacy that I’m leaving without a dollar attached, without an award attached, without a number of eyeballs on a project? What will I be remembered for?”

Here are edited excerpts from the conversation.

You were missed at the Oscar nominees luncheon.

I really wish I could have had that moment with my mum, but I guess there are two parts of it.

One is the belief that this will not be my last time having a seat at the table. This unforgettable celebratory moment will happen again.

The other is, I don’t know why when I entered into this race that I thought everything would fall into place, because that’s not how life works. It’s not always going to go your way, and how are you going to navigate that with all the grace you can?

A lot of wonderful things are happening right now, but that doesn’t make it easy.

I think it actually makes it more complicated because we all want the thing. If any actors tell you they don’t want to win, they’re lying to you. We all want it, we’re all competitive – that’s the industry. But we also love the craft, we love storytelling. So it gets really cloudy in these awards seasons because you don’t want to lose sight of why you got into it.

At the same time, you do have this sense of, if I could just make it across the finish line, maybe there’s more I can do. Maybe there’s more access, more opportunity for people to hear what changes need to happen in Hollywood and what stories deserve to be told.

But then you take a step back and realise, well, that’s what I’m doing now. It might not be as expansive as some of the people who have had the opportunity of accepting an Oscar, but I’m still doing all the things I wanted to do and I still have my voice.

Awards season can be complicated in the same way having a high-profile screen career is complicated. It isn’t just about the character you play, it’s about who you are too.

It’s tough. Especially because the industry can look at you like a business: You are Danielle Brooks, the moneymaker. How much value do you hold? What gets lost is we’re people too – we have goals, aspirations and families. There’s a lot of sacrifice that goes into being Danielle Brooks, and I wish this industry could remember it’s not always about the money.

What has playing Sofia given to you over the years?

So much. When I played her on Broadway, she taught me about my power. When I played her in the movie, she taught me how to own my power. During this season, she’s teaching me how to fight for myself and not settle. I’ve had so many lessons from other characters, but I think Sofia’s always going to keep teaching me stuff.

Do you remember the last day you played Sofia on Broadway? Did you ever think you’d get another crack at the character?

I thought that was the end, so that was definitely an emotional day. I had played her for a year of my life, eight shows a week, and learnt so much about myself and had these magical experiences with the audience that I didn’t want to let go of. Then I kept hearing that they were going to make a movie, so I just kept one eye open, hoping I could maybe scoot in there.

But you know what was tough? When I sang “Hell no!” for the last time on set in this version. When Bazawule called cut and said that’s a wrap, that’s when I got emotional. When else will I get a chance to sing this song? I’ve done it on Broadway, I’ve done it in the movie. I think this truly is the end of this moment.

With the Oscars around the corner, at least you have a bit more of your journey left before you have to fully say goodbye to this The Color Purple experience.

I think that’s why I’m emotional, because a part of me feels like I’m mourning. It’s truly coming to an end of this chapter with Sofia, but it’s given me so much. It’s the first show I ever saw. If you get to star in the show that gave you so much hope that you could one day do it, that’s incredible. So it’s so much deeper to me than just, “Oh, I just played Sofia.” This character and this story are why I’m actually doing the thing. NYTIMES

• The Color Purple is showing at The Projector. Catch the Oscars live on Channel 5 or mewatch on March 11 from 6.30am for the red-carpet segment and from 7am for the awards show.