“She was a sad little kid when she started on the show.”
A later addition to the cast of All in the Family, the addition of Danielle Brisebois to the show divided fans. Some viewers found her character, Stephanie Mills, unnecessary, while others believed she refreshed the series. Even if you weren’t a fan of her initially, you had to learn to love Stephanie Mills after she became a mainstay on All in the Family, in addition to the show’s follow-up series, Archie Bunker’s Place. Stephanie was incredibly well-received by critics, with many praising her character. The role even earned Brisebois award nominations.
In Donna McCrohan’s book, Archie and Edith and Mike and Gloria: The Tumultuous History of All in the Family, Brisebois discussed Stephanie, and the character’s ability to bring out a new, softer side to the typically rigid Archie Bunker.
“I think she was one of the only people who was actually able to get to Archie, get him to soften up,” she said. “I had him in the palm of my hand. I could make him do anything I wanted. Stephanie was really smart, really shrewd. But she didn’t abuse her gift. She cared a lot about people, and all she really wanted was a happy life. The character was never really described to me. But that’s how Carroll and I developed her together.”
When Stephanie came into their lives, Archie and Edith were tasked with raising a child all over again, and while Stephanie was sweet, she could also be a handful. Well known for its brutal honesty, All in the Family portrays Stephanie how a real child would act, warts and all. This was no mistake.
Brisebois revealed that, at least in part, the character of Stephanie was developed off of Brisebois herself, as a child. “In the beginning, Stephanie may have been how I was, in a sense,” she said. “For instance, I was from New York, and I spoke New Yorkese. In fact, before All in the Family, I took diction lessons to get rid of the accent. Then I had to get it back to play Stephanie. Also, they made her kind of bratty, and I was a little bratty at that age. And she was uncomfortable, living in a new place and not sure if Archie liked her. She was a sad little kid when she started on the show.”
