Quinta Brunson is officially entering her cartoon era. According to Variety, she is set to develop and star in a feature film adaptation of Betty Boop, the animated icon who has sizzled in a red dress and heels for nearly 100 years. The Abbott Elementary creator and Emmy winner is creating the project alongside Mark Fleischer, grandson of Betty Boop creator Max Fleischer.
Online, fans are already imagining Brunson’s take on the flirtatious, jazz-age cartoon icon, with many pointing out that her expressive comedy style feels oddly aligned with Boop, who’s known for exaggerated reactions and a big personality in a small package.
While there are the usual detractors who are once again bringing up colorism issues and the controversy over whether the Boop character was inspired by Baby Esther, a real-life Black jazz singer in the 1930s, Brunson stepping into the role feels like exactly the kind of modern cultural remix Hollywood needs as yesteryear’s nostalgia transforms into a live-action cultural moment.
Brunson won’t be the first person to bring Betty to life beyond animation. Broadway star Jasmine Amy Rogers earned a 2025 Tony Awards nomination for portraying Boop onstage, proving the character still has serious pop culture legs nearly a century later.
With this latest endeavor, Brunson joins a small, but growing Hollywood club: stars who didn’t just voice cartoon legends — they became them. Here are five more actors who brought animated characters alive on the live-action screen.
Halle Bailey as Ariel
She just wanted to be part of our world, and the former EBONY cover star did just that when Berry stepped into the fins of the underwater princess for Disney’s 2022 live-action version of The Little Mermaid.
Kenan Thomson as Fat Albert
In a story so meta, the long-running SNL star played the titular cartoon character in this 2004 live action version. Fat Albert finds himself transported into the real world, where they’ve got to deal with real-life problems, like opening soda cans.
Halle Berry as Catwoman
Following in a long line of women who suited up for the bad girl of Gotham — including Eartha Kitt — Berry made Catwoman her own in 2004, and looked amazing in sleek black leather.
Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury
While we had seen Nick Fury in the comics and in animated projects like Spider-Man: The Animated Series and X-Men Evolution, it wasn’t until we spotted Jackson in the post-credit scene of Iron Man in 2008 that he became a real-life IRL individual. He’d go on to make the character his own in movies and TV series like Secret Invasion.
Lil Rel Howery as Moose
The comedian brought new life to the celebrated book, Harold and the Purple Crayon, after years of animated retellings. He portrayed the human version of Moose, one of Harold’s buddies, in the 2024 live‑action adaptation.