Exclusive: Sterling K. Brown On His Two 2020 Emmy Nominations, One For Drama, Another For Comedy

Among the actors who received multiple Emmy nominations this year was two-time Emmy-award winning actor Sterling K. Brown. Having won for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for his portrayal of Christopher Darden in the FX limited series The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story and Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series for his role as Randall Pearson in the NBC drama series This Is Us, Brown is again nominated in the same category for his role as Randall and received a nod for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his work on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. That makes 5 nominations in 4 years. The Primetime Emmy Awards will take place on September 20, 2020, 8:00 PM.

BlackFilmandTV.com caught up with Brown as he spoke about his nominations, including one for a comedy series.

Did you anticipate getting a nomination?

Sterling K. Brown: In terms of the drama category, I was a bit surprised. We are in the 4th season of the show and you can lose some momentum. To represent the ‘This is Us’ family four seasons in is great. With The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, I did four episodes and I didn’t know if I had done enough to qualify for the category. I thought maybe I would be in the guest spot category, but the rules are what they are. I was proud of the work and I was happy to be a part of the show. I was surprise on both fronts. When I found out on the day, of the announcements I actually danced around the house for 15 minutes because I was awake by myself until I finally jumped on the bed, woke up my wife and told her that I got two nominations. 

In less than five years, you've had a good run. Five Emmy nominations with two wins. How does that make you feel? You've been working a long time, but now you’re in a really good groove.

Sterling K. Brown: It's interesting. So some people will ask me, “What’s it like to be an overnight success after 19 years of doing this?” I say whenever people come to you, it feels good to be seen and to be appreciated. The past five years have been great because I had 14 years before that where I was grinding day in, day out. Happy paying bills and living my life with my family. To me, that was success in and of itself. Then there's been this explosion of opportunity and recognition for the opportunity that has been a gift from God. I can't really quantify it any other way. I know the wave will probably subside at some time and hopefully it will pick back up again. I love doing what I do. I'm just happy that people keep giving me opportunities.

How does you feel knowing that your performance as Randall is what people like over and over? Win or lose, they like what you bring in him.

Sterling K. Brown: It's interesting so as as an actor with a theater background, and used to go from play to play, show to show and after being a journeyman for such a long time, variety is the spice of life. What I mean by that is I love to be known for a body of work and not just for one character; because when people see you on the street and they yell out, “Randall," it's a little bit different than when they see you in the street and they yell out, “Sterling.". There's that aspect. 

But in terms of the representation that Randall is for Black America, I'm proud to be playing a dude who is, by no stretch of the imagination, perfect. He really does try to do the right thing, even when it’s the wrong thing. I love how hard he tries and sometimes to his own detriment because he takes on so much responsibility for everything. There’s times when he's been able to exercise gracefully and recognize that he's actually not in control of anything. When he feels that his world is colliding down, and he can’t fix it, who can? I hope that he's a warning to folks with levels of anxiety who feel the pressure to take on everything themselves to say “you know what, maybe this one isn't my responsibility." To see him entering into therapy as a ostensibly black dude, whether he raised by black family or not, To combat the stigma associated with seeking out help. I hope there is some reverberation that happen culturally and people feel more empowered and less afraid to seek out therapy for their mental spiritual opening.

Then there’s your role as Reggie on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. How do you feel being nominated for a comedy show?

Sterling K. Brown: It's cool, man. Back in the day when I was a kid, I loved All In The Family. Loved when Sammy Davis Jr. showed up on the show. I loved when George Jefferson showed up on the series. it was an event where you ran to your mom to let her know the show was on after looking earlier in the week to see who might be showing up in your favorite show. 

I even said to myself, when I was talking about this earlier with with the cast, I love the show, love the style. We're in New York City in late 1950s 1960s. Where are the black people? Let’s get some color up in this piece. Thankfully, Amy Sherman-Palladino expanded the world in season three, we got really black and it makes me excited. I'm happy that first of all this year 34% of African Americans were nominated in the acting categories. Folks are starting to recognize the work and a majority of society is able to see themselves within the stories of a minority in marginalized cultures.. I'm so happy that if I'm in it, and that people will come check it out because of my participation, I think that's a good thing. And as a producer, I look forward to making sure that I can use that level of influence for things with black folks, front and center.

What will your production company be doing?

Sterling K. Brown: My company is called Indian Meadows. It's named after the neighborhood that I grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. I’m Interested in producing content that entertains educates and edifies black people. I like to call it intelligent diversity because I consider myself a decently intelligent human being. Here's the thing about it. You're constantly developing shows to go on the air. You're selling to different networks, different outlets. You’re telling folks that this is a show that needs to be made. You meeting with writers. A lot of the writers I’m meeting are black, they are women, they are LGBTQ. Because they know that I'm a black man and that hopefully that my participation in selling their story will give it the audience that it needs to actually get greenlit.

It's a lot of hustle behind the scenes until somebody else says yes to that story. Yes to hiring in the writers room, and yes to putting it into production. It's so much behind the scenes before you actually see something pop up. I can't really talk about it too much other than it’s a hustle in trying to make sure that people have opportunities that they may not have had without my participation. 

Is the project with Kerry Washington still happening?

Sterling K. Brown: That project is still in development and we are still aiming towards the hiatus of 2021 if the world comes back to normal and people are able to shoot big budget action flicks, etc. I'm very excited. This is a cool script. I can't say too much more than that. But looking forward to see what kind of chemistry we can create on screen.