Sterling Kelby Brown (born April 5, 1976) is an American actor. He has received numerous accolades including three Primetime Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award as well as a nomination for an Academy Award. He was included in Time's list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2018.
Sterling K. Brown | |
|---|---|
 Brown in 2026 | |
| Born | Sterling Kelby Brown April 5, 1976 St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. |
| Education |
|
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 2001–present |
| Spouse | Ryan Michelle Bathe (m. 2006) |
| Children | 2 |
| Awards | Full list |
Brown portrayed Christopher Darden in the FX limited series The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story (2016) earning the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie. For his role as Randall Pearson in the NBC drama series This Is Us (2016–2022) he earned the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. He has also starred in the Amazon Prime Video comedy series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2019) and the Hulu thriller series Paradise (2025).
For his role in American Fiction (2023), he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Brown had leading roles in films such as Hotel Artemis (2019), Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. (2022), and Biosphere (2023); supporting roles in Marshall (2017), Black Panther (2018), and Waves (2019); and voice roles such as The Angry Birds Movie 2 and Frozen 2.
Early life and education
Brown was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to Sterling Brown and Aralean (née Banks) Brown. He has two sisters and two brothers. His father died when he was 10 years old.
As a child, he went by the name Kelby; when he turned 16, he adopted the name Sterling, explaining in 2016:
I went by Kelby. My mom tells me this story — she was reiterating it the other day — in kindergarten I came home one day and said, 'Mom, Sterling is eight letters and Kelby is five. I'll just do Kelby and then when I turn 16, I will go by Sterling.' And I don't remember that. The impetus for me is that he had been gone for some time, and I was like, 'Kelby was a little boy's name.' I felt like I was ready to become Sterling.
Brown grew up in Olivette, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. He attended the private Mary Institute and St. Louis Country Day School.
He graduated from Stanford University in 1998 with an acting degree. He had initially majored in economics with a focus on business, planning on going into investment banking, but after finding his internship at the Federal Reserve to be a crashing bore and falling in love with acting as a freshman, he switched his major and career trajectory. He completed his Masters at New York University Tisch School of the Arts, where he graduated with an MFA.
Career
2002–2015: Early career
After college, Brown performed a series of roles in regional theater. In the theater, Brown was cast in the 2002 production of Bertolt Brecht's The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui starring Al Pacino, Paul Giamatti, Steve Buscemi, John Goodman and Jacqueline McKenzie at the National Actors Theater. That same year he played the sea captain Antonio in The Public Theatre's revival of the William Shakespeare play Twelfth Night at the Delacorte Theatre. He acted alongside Zach Braff, Julia Stiles, David Harbour, Natalie Gold, Oliver Platt, and Christopher Lloyd.
He has also appeared on numerous television shows, including ER, NYPD Blue,JAG, Boston Legal, Alias, Without a Trace, Supernatural, and Third Watch. He was a regular in the comedy Starved, and has also appeared in numerous films, including Brown Sugar (2002) with Taye Diggs, Stay (2005) with Ewan McGregor, and Trust the Man (2005) with David Duchovny and Julianne Moore. He had a recurring role on the television series Supernatural, as vampire hunter Gordon Walker.
In 2006, he played Macduff in The Public Theatre's production of William Shakespeare's Macbeth at the Anspacher Theater. Brown acted opposite Liev Schreiber and Jennifer Ehle. From 2007 to 2013, he played Dr. Roland Burton on the Lifetime drama series Army Wives. In 2009, he acted in the Tarell Alvin McCraney play The Brother/Sister Plays at The Public Theater. The production had two parts and was directed by Robert O'Hara featuring performances from Andre Holland and Brian Tyree Henry.
During this time, he guest starred in Eli Stone (2008), Medium (2010), The Good Wife (2011), and Masters of Sex (2014). He took the role as Detective Cal Beecher on Person of Interest from 2012 to 2013. In 2014, he starred as Hero in Suzan-Lori Parks's Odyssey-inspired play Father Comes Home From the Wars at New York's Public Theater.
2016–2022: Breakthrough and This is Us
In 2016, he starred in the FX miniseries The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story as Christopher Darden, for which he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie at the 68th Primetime Emmy Awards. From 2016 to 2022, Brown had a starring role in the television series This Is Us, for which he won his second Primetime Emmy Award. In 2018, it made him the first African-American actor to win a Golden Globe in the Best Actor in a Television Drama category, and the first to win a Screen Actors Guild Award in the Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series category. He also won, with the rest of the cast, the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.
During this time, he had high-profile supporting roles in several feature films. Brown portrayed Joseph Spell in the historical drama Marshall (2017), N'Jobu in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Black Panther, and Ronald Williams in the A24 independent film Waves (2019). In June 2018, Brown gave the commencement address at his alma mater Stanford University. He appeared as a guest star in the NYPD sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and earned critical acclaim for his role as Philip Davidson, a dentist under investigation for murdering his business partner. He was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series in 2018 for this performance. The following year he had a recurring role in the third season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel in 2019. He portrayed Reggie, the manager of the fictional singer Shy Baldwin (Leroy McClain). For his performance he received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series nomination. In August 2019, he was announced at D23 Expo and on Twitter as the voice of Lieutenant Destin Mattias in Frozen 2.
From 2019 to 2020, he narrated the Disney+ documentary series One Day at Disney. He portrayed Leo McGarry, replacing the late John Spencer in the HBO Max special A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote (2020). Brown took a recurring voice role as Michael Angelo in the Netflix animated comedy series Big Mouth (2020). He continued playing voice roles in Hulu's animated science fiction series Solar Opposites and Apple TV+'s animated children's series Interrupting Chicken. In 2022, he starred in and produced the mockumentary comedy Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. acting opposite Regina Hall. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, receiving positive reviews.Justin Chang of NPR wrote, "Brown and Hall give wonderfully complex performances as a disgraced Christian power couple trying to salvage what remains of their spiritual empire."
2023–present: Rise to prominence
In 2023, he acted alongside Mark Duplass in the science fiction comedy film Biosphere (2023), which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. That same year he played Randle P. McMurphy with Laura Benanti as Nurse Ratched for a reading for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. He gained critical acclaim for his supporting role in the satirical comedy American Fiction (2023) directed by Cord Jefferson starring Jeffrey Wright. Peter Debruge of Variety described Brown as a "scene-stealer" playing the protagonist's gay brother, a plastic surgeon. For his performance, he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor at the 96th Academy Awards. Wright was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for American Fiction, and the nomination of Brown and Wright was the first time a Black lead actor and a Black supporting actor from the same film were both nominated for Academy Awards. In 2024, Brown joined the film Double Booked which will be directed by Adam Scott. He also took a supporting role in the Netflix science-fiction drama Atlas with Jennifer Lopez and Simu Liu.
Personal life
Brown met actress Ryan Michelle Bathe as a college freshman at Stanford. They eloped in March 2006, but held a large ceremony in June 2007. They have two sons, Andrew and Amaré.
Acting credits
| † | Denotes film or TV productions that have not yet been released |
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Brown Sugar | Co-Worker | Rick Famuyiwa | |
| 2005 | Trust the Man | Rand | Bart Freundlich | |
| Stay | Frederick / Devon | Marc Forster | ||
| 2008 | Righteous Kill | IA Detective Rogers | Jon Avnet | |
| 2011 | Our Idiot Brother | Officer Omar Coleman | Jesse Peretz | |
| 2013 | The Suspect | The Other Suspect | Stuart Connelly | |
| 2015 | Mojave | Detective Fletcher | William Monahan | Uncredited |
| 2016 | Whiskey Tango Foxtrot | Sergeant Hurd | Glenn Ficarra & John Requa | |
| Spaceman | Rodney Scott | Brett Rapkin | ||
| Split | Shaw | M. Night Shyamalan | Deleted scenes | |
| 2017 | Marshall | Joseph Spell | Reginald Hudlin | |
| 2018 | Black Panther | N'Jobu | Ryan Coogler | |
| Hotel Artemis | Sherman / Waikiki | Drew Pearce | ||
| The Predator | Agent Will Traeger | Shane Black | ||
| 2019 | The Angry Birds Movie 2 | Garry | Thurop Van Orman | Voice |
| Waves | Ronald Williams | Trey Edward Shults | ||
| Frozen 2 | Lieutenant Destin Mattias | Chris Buck & Jennifer Lee | Voice | |
| 2020 | The Rhythm Section | Marc Serra | Reed Morano | |
| 2022 | Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. | Lee-Curtis Childs | Adamma Ebo | Also producer |
| Biosphere | Ray | Mel Eslyn | ||
| 2023 | American Fiction | Clifford "Cliff" Ellison | Cord Jefferson | |
| 2024 | Atlas | Colonel Elias Banks | Brad Peyton | |
| 2025 | Shadow Force | N/a | Joe Carnahan | Producer only |
| 2026 | The Gallerist | TBA | Cathy Yan | |
| Is God Is † | the Monster | Aleshea Harris | Post-production | |
| 2027 | Voltron † | Zarkon | Rawson Marshall Thurber |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002–2004 | Third Watch | Officer Edward Dade | 9 episodes |
| 2003 | Hack | Rasheed Morgan | Episode: "Hidden Agenda" |
| Tarzan | Detective Carey | 2 episodes | |
| 2004 | ER | Bob Harris | Episode: "Get Carter" |
| NYPD Blue | Kelvin George | Episode: "Chatty Chatty Bang Bang" | |
| JAG | Sergeant Harry Smith | Episode: "Coming Home" | |
| 2005 | Boston Legal | Zeke Borns | Episode: "Death Be Not Proud" |
| Starved | Adam Williams | 7 episodes | |
| 2006 | Alias | Agent Rance | Episode: "There's Only One Sidney Bristow" |
| Smith | Mr. Corey | Episode: "Three" | |
| Without a Trace | Thomas Biggs | Episode: "Watch Over Me" | |
| 2006–2007 | Supernatural | Gordon Walker | 4 episodes |
| 2007 | Shark | Quenton North | Episode: "Teacher's Pet" |
| Standoff | Russell Marsh | Episode: "Lie to Me" | |
| 2007–2013 | Army Wives | Roland Burton | 107 episodes |
| 2008 | Eli Stone | David Mosley | Episode: "Patience" |
| 2010 | Medium | Todd Gillis | Episode: "The People in Your Neighborhood" |
| 2011 | Detroit 1-8-7 | Cameron Jones | Episode: "Ice Man/Malibu" |
| The Good Wife | Andrew Boylan | Episode: "Feeding the Rat" | |
| Harry's Law | Mr. Thomas | Episode: "American Girl" | |
| 2012 | Nikita | Nick Anson | Episode: "True Believer" |
| 2012–2013 | Person of Interest | Detective Cal Beecher | 6 episodes |
| 2013 | NCIS | Elijah Banner | Episode: "Devil's Triad" |
| 2014 | The Mentalist | Agent Higgins | Episode: "White Lines" |
| Masters of Sex | Marcus | Episode: "Story of My Life" | |
| 2015 | Castle | Ed Redley | Episode: "The Wrong Stuff" |
| Criminal Minds | Fitz | Episode: "Beyond Borders" | |
| 2016 | The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story | Christopher Darden | 10 episodes |
| 2016–2022 | This Is Us | Randall Pearson | Main role |
| 2017 | Insecure | Lionel | 2 episodes |
| Running Wild with Bear Grylls | Himself | Episode: "Sterling K. Brown" | |
| 2018 | Saturday Night Live | Himself (host) | Episode: "Sterling K. Brown/James Bay" |
| Brooklyn Nine-Nine | Philip Davidson | Episode: "The Box" | |
| Black Love | Himself | 2 episodes | |
| Robot Chicken | Various voices | Episode: "Shall I Visit the Dinosaurs?" | |
| 2019 | The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience | Sia | TV special |
| Sesame Street | Himself | Episode: "Sesame Street's 50th Anniversary Celebration" | |
| The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel | Reggie | 4 episodes | |
| 2019–2020 | One Day at Disney | Narrator | 52 episodes |
| 2020 | Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts | Lio Oak | Voice, main role |
| A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote | Leo McGarry | Recreation of "Hartsfield's Landing" | |
| Big Mouth | Michael Angelo | Voice, recurring role (season 4) | |
| 2021–2022 | Solar Opposites | Halk | Voice, 10 episodes |
| 2022–2023 | Interrupting Chicken | Papa | Voice, 12 episodes |
| 2023–present | Invincible | Angstrom Levy | Voice, 9 episodes |
| 2025– present | Paradise | Xavier Collins | Main role, also executive producer |
| 2025 | Washington Black | Medwin Harris | Main role, also executive producer |
Theater
| Year | Show | Role | Playwright | Theater | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Twelfth Night | Antonio | William Shakespeare | Public Theater Delacorte Theater | |
| The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui | Goodwill | Bertolt Brecht | National Actor's Theatre | ||
| 2006 | Macbeth | Macduff | William Shakespeare | Public Theater Delacorte Theater | |
| 2009 | The Brother/Sister Plays Part 1 & 2 | Shango / Shua | Tarell Alvin McCraney | Public Theater Anspacher Theater | |
| 2014 | Father Comes Home From the Wars (Parts 1, 2, & 3) | Hero/Ulysses | Suzan-Lori Parks |
Music videos
| Year | Artist | Title | Role | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | The Lonely Island (feat. Sia) | "Oakland Nights" | Sia |
Awards and nominations
Brown has won 24 awards from 91 nominations.
In 2016, Brown earned his first Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for his breakout portrayal of attorney Christopher Darden in The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story. Brown also won a Critics' Choice TV Award, along with Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, and NAACP Image Award nominations.
In 2023, Brown delivered the commencement speech for the graduating class at Washington University in St. Louis and received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from the university.