Sterling K. Brown Was a Struggling Actor at 25. Now, He Has an Emmy.
The suave star of NBC’s This Is Us, returning for its second season September 26, can hang with Jack Bauer and keep it cool.
Photo: Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images
Best Little-Known Fact
Sixteen years ago, I was living in a fourth-floor walk-up in Harlem that cost $85 a week. During the summer, it got so hot that I’d ride the bus up and down 125th Street just for the air-conditioning.
Best Childhood Memory
My dad making me French toast for every birthday breakfast. On my tenth birthday, the last one I spent with him—he died the following year—I devoured a platter of it. Then he told me something was stuck under the plate. When I looked, I found $100 and just lost it: $100 and French toast?
Best All-Nighter
Binge-watching a great show. I went to Target once and picked up three seasons of 24—what I call the Jack Bauer power hour—and watched 72 episodes in ten days.
Best Gut Decision
Asking my now wife, Ryan, to be a part of my life again. It had been three and a half years since we stopped dating, but I was still in love with her, so I called and asked to swing by. When I got to her house, she was on the treadmill. I told her how I felt, and she said, “I’m working out right now. I don’t have time to do this.” She started jogging—and I started jogging right alongside her, telling her how much I wanted her back. I had to sweat to prove my love.
Best Date Night
"Going to a steakhouse without a 2-year-old asking to be breastfed and a 6-year-old who wants attention."
Sixteen years ago, I was living in a fourth-floor walk-up in Harlem that cost $85 a week. During the summer, it got so hot that I’d ride the bus up and down 125th Street just for the air-conditioning.
Best Childhood Memory
My dad making me French toast for every birthday breakfast. On my tenth birthday, the last one I spent with him—he died the following year—I devoured a platter of it. Then he told me something was stuck under the plate. When I looked, I found $100 and just lost it: $100 and French toast?
Best All-Nighter
Binge-watching a great show. I went to Target once and picked up three seasons of 24—what I call the Jack Bauer power hour—and watched 72 episodes in ten days.
Best Gut Decision
Asking my now wife, Ryan, to be a part of my life again. It had been three and a half years since we stopped dating, but I was still in love with her, so I called and asked to swing by. When I got to her house, she was on the treadmill. I told her how I felt, and she said, “I’m working out right now. I don’t have time to do this.” She started jogging—and I started jogging right alongside her, telling her how much I wanted her back. I had to sweat to prove my love.
Best Date Night
"Going to a steakhouse without a 2-year-old asking to be breastfed and a 6-year-old who wants attention."
NEXT STORY
