Sterling K. Brown on the ‘genius concept’ of ‘American Fiction’ [Exclusive Video Interview]
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Sterling K. Brown is no stranger when it comes to great material. The three-time Emmy winner starred for six seasons on “This Is Us” and has appeared in acclaimed films like “Black Panther” and “Waves” during the last five years alone. But reading the script for “American Fiction” while traveling to Europe for a family vacation with his wife, actress Ryan Michelle Bathe, just hit differently, Brown tells Gold Derby in an exclusive video interview.
“I was reading the script. And I was like, ‘Ryan, this was really f–king good.’ And she was like, ‘Really?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah. It’s got Black people in it, and we are doing stuff that people don’t normally see Black people do – like just living life. And it’s got this wonderful satire that sort of talks about the fact that we don’t get a chance to see Black people do stuff that we don’t see Black people do. And then they show Black people doing the stuff that we were talking about!’” Brown says of the new film. “What a genius concept to marry the satire with this sort of family drama that’s very sweet and painful and mundane and messy, and all of the things that sort of express a very full breadth of humanity. And while at the same time having satire talking about how our experience tends to get limited for mainstream consumption.”
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Based on the book “Erasure” by Percival Everett, “American Fiction” has already become one of awards season’s breakout hits – and it doesn’t even arrive in theaters until later this month. The film from first-time director Cord Jefferson won the audience award at the Toronto International Film Festival back in September, a reliable bellwether for future Oscar success. In the months since, “American Fiction” has won over audiences at festivals around the world thanks to its sharp satirical comedy and touching family drama. The film stars Jeffrey Wright as an author named Thelonious “Monk” Ellison who has become so fed up with the way the publishing industry – and Hollywood in general – commoditizes Black stories that he writes a scathing satire meant to highlight the hypocrisy around Black art. In a twist, however, the book becomes a breakout success, leaving Monk to reckon with his creation while his personal life is at a crossroads.
Brown plays Monk’s brother, Clifford, who has been ostracized by their parents because he’s gay. It’s a scene-stealing role for Brown — a nominee for Best Supporting Performance at the Independent Spirit Awards — who deftly mixes comedy and drama in his performance, particularly in a conversation with Monk toward the end of the film that has been highlighted in the “American Fiction” trailer.
“When you hear him talking to Monk at the end, it doesn’t matter whether they accept him fully or not. Like, it’s a matter of what he chooses to share, and then by him sharing who he actually is it’s the only way he can permit himself to be happy,” Brown says. “It may not work with everybody, like other people may not accept him. But if he doesn’t accept himself, he doesn’t even have a shot. You find a man who’s in the midst of a very messy time of upheaval in his life, but he is in search of trying to give himself the greatest opportunity for happiness. And I’m sort of happy that he allows it to be messy for a while because you kind of have to learn how to color before you can color inside the lines. Nobody gets it perfect right from the jump, you’re all over the place. And then gradually over time, it gets a little bit neater and neither. And I think that’s what’s happening with Cliff as the story goes on.”
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Brown remains one of the industry’s busiest performers – among his upcoming projects is a new political thriller for Hulu that reunites the actor with “This Is Us” creator Dan Fogelman – but he says his goal remains to keep the audience on its toes.
“I think what is important to me is to be able to have a career that continuously surprises people,” Brown says. “I love being known for a body of work versus one particular character. And so if I can keep surprising people – I’m damn near 50 – but if I can surprise people a few more times into the 50s and 60s, that would be nice.”
“American Fiction” from MGM is out in limited release on December 15 before a wide rollout on December 22.
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