Sterling K. Brown Interview: ‘This Is Us, ‘Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’

Not only did Sterling K. Brown earn his fourth consecutive Emmy nomination this year for his performance as Randall Pearson on “This Is Us,” but he also scored an additional nomination for his work as Reggie in “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” This makes him the first actor in Emmy history to earn bids in the same year for a comedy series and a drama series, outside of the guest categories. “At some point in time I’m really gonna try and just do one thing at a time,” quips Brown in an exclusive new interview for Gold Derby, “but it was too good of an opportunity to pass up.” Watch the video interview above.

“This Is Us,” fans went on a journey this season with Randall, whose stubbornness about wanting his mother to take part in a clinical trial caused him to alienate himself from his siblings. Even Brown was shocked by some of Randall’s behavior in the fourth season, but as he notes, that did not get in the way of trying to figure out where he was coming from. “Your job is not always to love everything that your character does but you have to understand their motivations for why they do what they’re doing, and I understood,” he says.

Joining the cast of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” in its third season, Brown shines as the protective manager of closeted gay singer Shy Baldwin (Leroy McClain). Complicating matters further is that Reggie and Shy are best friends, while Reggie also has to have a white man fronting for him due to the racism of the time. “There’s a vigilance that is necessitated for the time because the stake are so big, there can’t be a misstep,” explains Brown. “It was just fierce mama bear from the beginning, who also felt like people didn’t recognize his genius, his authority, so he’s like, ‘I’m gonna show you my authority, when you get within my sphere.'”

An avid TV watcher, Brown has some ideas for ways he can show up in another acclaimed TV series like “Maisel.” Shows on his wishlist include “Ozark,” “Ramy” and “Succession,” and he already has an arc planned for his hypothetical “Ramy” stint. “A Christian guy and a Muslim guy having a parallel existence trying to be faithful to their religions,” suggests Brown, “and also, how do we get as these females?” He would also like to add some color to the mostly-white cast of “Succession,” admitting, “If there was a way to enter into that world of excess and greed and treachery in a way that made sense, oh, that would be delightful.”