‘American Fiction’ Actor Sterling K. Brown On Breaking Out Of His ‘This Is Us’ Persona And Why You Should Always Listen To The “Still, Small Voice” Within
deadline.comPrior to American Fiction, Sterling K. Brown was best known as Randall Pearson in the long-running, award-winning NBC family drama series This is Us.
The part that director Cord Jefferson was offering him couldn’t have been more different: in Jefferson’s adaptation of the satirical novel by Percival Everett, Brown plays Clifford ‘Cliff’ Ellison, a caustic plastic surgeon and brother to the film’s protagonist, Thelonious ‘Monk’ Ellison (Jeffrey Wright).
After divorcing his wife, Cliff comes out as gay, further estranging him from his uptight family. This nuanced role allowed Brown to explore the many facets of Blackness and the challenges of the LGBTQ+ community. DEADLINE: You studied economics at Stanford and interned at the Federal Reserve, among other things that mesh with this upper echelon of the Black experience.
American Fiction also touches on other avenues of the Black experience. How did you relate? STERLING K. BROWN: Cliff comes from a very upper-middle-class family.
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