Donald Glover says that Tina Fey once revealed to him that he was originally a diversity hire at 30 Rock. The Atlanta creator reflected on his time in the writers' room for the NBC show during a new interview with GQ. He says that he holds no grudges against Fey for letting him know about it either.
“There is no animosity between us or anything like that, but [Tina Fey] said it herself…. It was a diversity thing,” Glover said. He then explained that the hiring process was narrowed down to him and Kenya Barris. “The last two people who were fighting for the job were me and Kenya Barris. I didn’t know it was between me and him until later. He hit me one day and he was like, ‘I hated you for years!'” Barris went on to create the sitcom, Black-ish.
Donald Glover At The Golden Globes
In the end, Glover says he's happy with how everything played out because it's led him to where he is now. “I dodged so many bullets,” Glover remarked. “Me being on SNL would’ve killed me. I got friends who made it on SNL and, at the time, I was like, damn. But if I got on SNL, my career wouldn’t have happened. And thank God. Thank God I didn’t get some of those pilots. I wanted so desperately to be on Parks and Rec because it was the cool, hipster show. I am the bullet dodger, I feel like Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction. That wasn’t a mistake, you know? God did that.”
Despite his success, Glover also discussed the negative responses to season 3 of Atlanta, admitting that he cried as a result. Elsewhere in the interview, Glover spoke about the early stages of his music career, including a time he was booed while opening for Kid Cudi, and much more. Check out Donald Glover's full interview with GQ below.
Donald Glover's GQ Cover
[Via]
