STERLING WORK
Emmy-winning ‘This Is Us’ star’s dish on new season
THREE years ago, not many people knew about Sterling K. Brown.
And after Sunday night, when he won his second consecutive Emmy — and first for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for “This Is Us” — there can’t be many people left who don’t know Brown is the best actor on network TV.
Brown’s ascendancy has a lot to do with finding the right roles at the right time. Playing Christopher Darden in “The People v. O.J. Simpson” gave Brown, 41, an opportunity to be the conscience of a courtroom where fame and self-interest ruled the day. After stealing that show from the many strutting peacocks on display, he brought that same high-minded soulfulness to his “This Is Us” role as Randall Pearson, the adopted African-American son in a white family whose reunion with his biological father William (Ron Cephas Jones), changed his life forever.
In a recent conversation at The Beverly Hilton hotel, Brown reflected his very good year and what he did during his summer vacation.
Season 1 ended with Randall quitting his job after his father’s death and telling his wife Beth (Susan Kelechi Watson) that he wants to adopt a child.
He wants to honor William’s life with this adoption, bringing a new person into his family. But Beth and Randall don’t necessarily see eye-to-eye on how to go about that. Randall wants to, whether it’s consciously or unconsciously, recreate the circumstances under which he came to be a Pearson. And that’s not a bad thing. But Beth’s thinking maybe there’s a different way that they could move forward.
Does Randall leaving his job affect the family’s finances, the house where they live?
Randall’s way more successful than Sterling is and he saved way more money. It’s true. They are financially OK.
You were on Season 3 “Insecure,” as Lionel, one of the many nice, available men rejected by Molly (Yvonne Orji). You were the only one who didn’t drop the F-bomb, who didn’t use the N-word.
[Series creator] Issa [Rae] and I have a Stanford [University, where Brown received his B.A.] connection. And I admire someone who knows their own voice so well. That they can write for themselves in that way. And I love the show. I love its depiction of young black professional men. You don’t get to see it that often. I said, “If there’s anything I can do, you’ll let me know.” I just stepped in. It was real quick. And I didn’t wear my glasses.
You made several movies on hiatus
I was in Canada working on “The Predator.” And then I made a movie with Jodie Foster here called “Hotel Artemis.” It takes place about seven years in the future in LA and there is a riot going on due to a shortage of water. The rich are hoarding water and the poor are rioting. I play a bank robber and there’s a heist gone wrong. There’s an injury that happens in the midst of the riot and [the robbers] have to go someplace to heal.
So now that you’re the next Bryan Cranston, how are they going to keep you on “This Is Us”?
Yo! I've got a contract. I don’t want to leave the show. [Creator] Dan [Fogelman] has set it up that we’re doing 18 episodes a season, which still gives us five-and-a-half months to explore different opportunities during our hiatus. It’s a great show. It moves me the same way it moves our public. I get to be home with my kids and wife and do a great job? I’ll ride it ’til the wheels fall off.