After five seasons and nearly 100 episodes, Abbott Elementary is one of the top comedies on network TV, and a lot of the success is due to the actors who bring the main characters to life. Even the funniest writing wouldn’t be enough to turn the ABC sitcom into a hit without the performances of Quinta Brunson as Janine, Tyler James Williams as Gregory, Lisa Ann Walter as Melissa, Chris Perfetti as Jacob, Sheryl Lee Ralph as Barbara, William Stanford Davis as Mr. Johnson, and Janelle James as Ava. Surprisingly, she’s not the only Ava Coleman working on Abbott.
The best known Ava Coleman from Abbott Elementary is obviously the character played by James, and her performance was so solid that she earned five consecutive Emmy nominations as well as a Critics Choice Award. Ava’s role as the mostly disengaged principal has always been an entertainment contrast to the teachers, but she also pulls through for the kids of Abbott when she needs to rise above the one-liners and pull through for them.
The other Ava Coleman isn’t a member of the Abbott Elementary cast at all, but she does have a key role in bringing the laughs to ABC’s primetime lineup each year. She joined Quinta Brunson and the rest of the writing staff on Abbott, and has already been credited with nearly 30 episodes across four seasons so far. This isn’t a case of the show including “Ava Coleman” in the credits as a fun gag about the character being a writer; the real-life writer shares the same name, and it wasn’t even part of the original plan.
Abbott Elementary’s “Ava Coleman” Connection Is A Complete Coincidence
The real Ava Coleman joined Abbott Elementary during the summer hiatus between the end of season 1 and beginning of season 2. Even though her only credits prior to Abbott were nine episodes of Girls5eva as a writer and story editor, Quinta Brunson was already familiar with her work. Brunson, who created the mockumentary for ABC, revealed the story behind why one of her main characters has the same name as one of her writers. Ahead of the second season, she told Entertainment Weekly:
It feels so wonderful to get back in the room. Everyone is firing on all cylinders. All of our old writers came back, and we have one new writer who, coincidentally, is named Ava Coleman. I know that’s so weird.
Brunson went on to reveal that the writer was somebody she’d wanted on Abbott Elementary in season 1, and “didn’t even realize that I had named the character the same name as this girl that I knew.” According to the creator, Coleman was “she’s fitting right in, bringing new juice to the room” as soon as she came on board for season 2. Suffice it to say that the real Ava Coleman seems to be much more invested in her work than the fictional Ava Coleman is as principal.
Ava Coleman Is Still One Of Abbott Elementary’s Greatest Characters
Quinta Brunson naming one of the core Abbott Elementary characters after a writer was unintentional, but Ava is by far one of the comedy’s greatest characters. Her one-liners nearly always land, and Janelle James includes just enough heart that Ava truly feels like one of the team, and the show seemed like it was changing for the worse when Ava was fired from her role as principal. Fortunately, being fired didn’t stick for Ava, and she really got to shine in season 4 for delivering her usual laughs along with revealing that she does actually care deeply about Abbott.
It’s no surprise that James has gotten plenty of recognition on the awards circuit for playing Ava. She has been nominated for the Outstanding Supporting Actress Emmy every year since 2022, and won her first Critics Choice Award for Best Supporting Actresss in 2026 after being nominated three times before. She’ll also be back as Ava in primetime in the not-too-distant future, since Abbott Elementary has a spot on ABC’s complete fall 2026 schedule.
- Release Date
-
2021 – 2026-00-00
- Showrunner
-
Quinta Brunson
- Writers
-
Quinta Brunson
-
Quinta Brunson
Janine Teagues
-
Tyler James Williams
Gregory Eddie
