Sterling k. brown
Is on the hunt…
Why the Hotel Artemis and The Predator star is raising temperatures right now.
Having been a journeyman actor for the past 13-and-a-half years of my career, to have these last couple of years introduce me to working with people like Shane Black, it’s a dream come true.” Self-deprecating and smooth-talking, Sterling K. Brown is doing himself something of a disservice as he chats to Teasers. Because although the past few years have seen him exploding into the mainstream, nabbing two consecutive Emmy awards, a Golden Globe and a cadre of high-profile roles in projects such as
Black Panther and American Crime Story, he was hardly coasting before.
TV gigs on ER, Person Of Interest and This Is Us primed him for his big break as Christopher Darden on ACS (for which he won his first Emmy), and now he’s busier than ever, not least with his action-man role as agent Will Traeger in The Predator, directed by Shane Black. “Traeger is not a decent human being. He’s not the most likeable cat,” Brown reveals with a chuckle. “That’s something very fun for me to play – someone who doesn’t go out of their way to be kind and gracious – because I am so naturally that way.”
A fan of the original Arnie actioner (“It was heart-pounding and scary for an 11-year-old kid”), he’s enjoyed watching Black put his stamp on the franchise with a pseudo-sequel/ reboot, also starring Olivia Munn and Boyd Holbrook. “This one has the thriller aspect, but it has a great deal of levity,” he says. Levity is something we should also expect from his upcoming role voicing a character in The Angry Birds Movie 2, while other projects are more subdued but even more tantalising.
Currently on screens as honourable thief Waikiki in Drew Pearce’s Hotel Artemis, also on Brown’s agenda is musical drama Waves, with
It Comes At Night director Trey Edward Shults, and thriller The Rhythm Section, with Blake Lively and director Reed Morano. Meanwhile, he’s shown interest in suiting up for a role in DC reboot Green Lantern Corps, and Aaron Sorkin wants to cast him as the president in his West Wing reboot. “If you are serious, sir, I would be honoured!” Brown responded. No journeymen here.
ETA | 12 SEPTEMBER / THE PREDATOR OPENS NEXT MONTH. THE ANGRY BIRDS MOVIE 2, THE RHYTHM SECTION AND WAVES ARE ALL IN PRODUCTION.