Brown a star public wants to hear from
Season five of NBC’s “This Is Us” sees the Pearson family as they navigate both the pandemic and Black Lives Matter movement. Sterling K. Brown, who plays Randall Pearson, says he can relate to how his character— a Black man whowas adopted into a white family— feels in the aftermath of the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd.
Brown says he received “tons of phone calls from white friends saying, ‘What can I do? Let me know? Is there something I should be doing?’ and it’s like, ‘Guys, I appreciate where your heart is, I really do, but I’ve got like every other white person calling me saying this. ... You don’t realize you’re inundating me, in a very sweet way, but I’m still trying to figure out what my next step is.’ It’s hard enough to represent yourself rather than represent all of Black America,” he said.
This interview with Brown has been edited for length and clarity.
Q: What does it feel like to be someone who peoplewant to know your opinions?
A: Therewas this Dave Chappelle joke about how people always want to knowwhat celebrities have to say, and MTV interviewed Ja Rule about 9/11. And I’m like, ‘Am I Ja Rule now? Is this what’s happening to me?’ But I do feel like silence in the face of inequality is complicity, and I don’t want anyone to think I think the status quo is OK. So there is some pressure to have something to say. Youwant to inform yourself to what’s going on in theworld, have an opinion and be able to defend yourself.
Q: Whatwas your long hiatus from “This Is Us” like?
A: Itwas the longest break I’ve had in six years. Iwas home so much to the point where my oldest son (Andrew, 9) got a little annoyed with me. ... And the baby Amare, he’s not a baby, he’s 5. But hewas full of joy and sunshine. ... My wife and I had a wonderful time but in that, a wonderful, difficult time. When you’re used to going away and coming back, you have a rhythm. And when that rhythm was broken itwas a little like, ‘Why are you here?’ ‘Why are YOU here?’ And then we realized ‘Oh, man. We kind of missed each other a little bit.’
Q: Let’s discuss “The West Wing” special for HBO Max. Whatwas that experience like?
A: Tommy (Schlamme) and Aaron (Sorkin) called me and theywere like, ‘We were wondering if you would play the role of Leo.’ I’m like, ‘You know I’m 44-years-old.’ And they’re like, ‘Yeah, OK, no problem.’ And the fact that I was even asked was a tremendous offer. Like, honestly, that was my show, you know? It’s a perfect example of the kind of art where it doesn’t necessarily showa reflection of theway life as it is, but life as it could be, you know, an idealized version or something like it. And, it’s acting crushes that I’ve had for years. I’m now sharing a space with these people. It exceeded expectations ... So everybody started rehearsing their scenes by their trailers outside with their PPE on. I didn’t have much to do in the episode, but Iwas like, ‘Can I just sit in the audience and watch?’ Iwas like a kid in a candy store.