You rarely ask a pleasantry like “how was your flight?” and hear a reply that made national news. But a few days ago, Yvette Nicole Brown, better known as Shirley Bennett of the television show Community, was on board a Qantas flight from Los Angeles that began flooding one hour after takeoff. She says a trickle, like “spilled soda”, quickly turned into a “gushing river”.



“It happened while we were still ascending and being on the top level of a double decker plane, we thought, ‘oh god where is all this water going?’ And sure enough it ended up seeping through the floor and raining on the people in the level below,” Brown tells me over the phone.



When the plane was forced to return to Los Angeles, the 42-year-old actor took to Twitter to let fans know what had happened en route to Melbourne for this year’s Oz Comic Con. Other passengers tweeted photos and tabloid news headlines gleefully called the story ‘Lakes on a plane’.



Pipe burst on my #Qantas flight over the Pacific. We were diverted back to LA. River running thru the aisles #ScaryTimes #WillKeepYouPosted — yvette nicole brown (@YNB) July 2, 2014

Brown’s 471,000 plus Twitter followers do more than keep her busy – they keep her informed. It was from them – not from her agent, or the show producers – that she first heard the fiercely loved television show Community would be revived for a sixth season. "As soon as my Twitter explodes I know something's happened with Community."



In fact the entire show has had more than just a long running love affair with its online fan base. It is a relationship so close that the place at which one ends and the other begins can be difficult to pinpoint and the two regularly cannibalise one another. Take, for example, the close attention which the writers and actors paid to audience feedback:



“In the early seasons we would be shooting in season. So we could be on set watching an episode, and actually watch Twitter minute by minute to see ‘oh they loved that scene with Britta and Jeff’ and ‘oh they loved when Troy said that thing to Shirley’. As actors it’s been great to know what's working and what’s not, and then adjust. It’s changed everything about television.”



The phrase "art imitates life, imitates art” seems to have been purpose built for Community. The show’s less-than-stellar ratings have seen the ominous threat of cancellation hang constantly overhead, and each time it’s the fans who have dragged it back from the brink of death. On Twitter, they’ve gathered under the banner #SixSeasonsAndAMovie, a phrase appropriated from two Community characters, Troy and Abed, who themselves are obsessed with a fictional show.



That brilliantly strategic act of meta-fiction and meme-making is close to becoming a reality, with online publisher Yahoo picking up where NBC left off for a sixth season of the show. Only a movie will seal the deal and turn that fateful line into a self-fulfilling prophecy, a possibility Brown can’t rule out.



“When it comes to Community, I'm always happy when the fans get what they want. It’s always been a fan show because it speaks to people that feel under-appreciated and unloved by the world and we've all felt that way in some form or another. So I think it's really beautiful this gets to continue and people can have a voice.”



This level of interaction – in which fans are able to band together and not only influence a show but determine its fate – is a stark contrast to when Brown was a child. Back then, she says, you might send a letter to the stars of The Cosby Show and wait three months for a reply. But this instant interactivity no longer feels surprising nor novel to Brown, especially when she views herself as a fan, of shows like The Walking Dead, Orange is the New Black and Scandalous.



Of course, not everyone online plays nice, and one user in particular has been harassing the star with racist and abusive tweets. Brown tells me the individual even made the strange and frightening move of “stealing” avatars of Brown’s supporters and fans. But rather than go the usual two options, ignore or retaliate, Brown has picked a third, and chosen to engage, with kindness.



Ruh-roh! Lol! RT @dawgsindabatub @EW @Yahoo dear yahoo. Save the show but get rid of that bitch Yvette Nicole Brown. #Community — yvette nicole brown (@YNB) July 1, 2014

Hey guys, it's all in fun. Negative, racist folks like @dawgsindabatub elicit my sympathy. Wittle guy just wasn't hugged enough as a baby ;) — yvette nicole brown (@YNB) July 1, 2014

“Life is tough enough and we need to be good to each other. I've always tried to create a place online where people are safe. Whoever this person is, their behaviour is really out of line. I retweeted him so that people would know what’s going on: look at this person being hateful, how do we feel about this and how can we be better? I think of it as teachable moments.”



Brown makes clear her message for this user: “Let’s be honest about what that is. You’re being nasty. And it’s not ok at all, not only to me, but also to whomever you do it to. And if you need love, just say so, I’ll love on ya. Let’s work through this mess.”



It’s extraordinary to hear Brown speak with a gravitas you never see in her onscreen character Shirley, who is famed for her two distinctive voices – one so syrupy you could pour it over your morning cereal, and a low growl when she senses a threat. “When I found out she has this dual nature where she was sweet and also crazy, I thought let’s make those two sides have a voice. But neither of them are really mine.”



What Brown does share in common with her character is a commitment to her faith, although she corrects me when I call her a “strong Christian”: “I don't know how strong you can be because you do your best for God every day. We're Christians because we need Him, not because we're perfect. And I do think it's an honest portrayal [of Christians] because Shirley is a mess. She’s trying every day to be a better person, which is all you can be.”



Brown then, half-joking, adds to the similarities, "and we're both beautiful black women, have an affinity for Malcolm Jamal-Warner [who plays Shirley’s husband] and we both want the best for people. Shirley goes about it in horrible ways. She alienates more than she draws to her. But we both have the desire for people to have a good life and to be a part of it, if possible.”



It is this commitment to humaneness that appears to keep Brown grounded, through the emotional highs and lows of public life. A roller-coaster ride only exaggerated when the fans that shower you with love and the haters that throw virtual rocks are suddenly tailing you each minute of every day. The actor leaves me with a small but stirring sermon that should be repeated like a mantra by each of us who log online, each day.



“Everyone feels like they’re separate, on their own little island with their own story. But we are in this life together and we can either take care of each other and lighten each other’s load or we can make things worse for other people. We each have to choose better. And if it starts with Twitter, God bless, let’s start it on Twitter.”

