Sterling K. Brownis enjoying his moment.
And now that its come, hes not slowing down.
WithHotel Artemisopening in theaters this weekend, I recently sat down with Sterling K. Brown for a wide-ranging interview.
Check out what Sterling K. Brown had to say below.
Collider: What has the last two years been like for you?
Then, the last two years, youve broke through.
Image via Global Road Entertainment
STERLING K. BROWN: I never anticipated that things would happen as quickly as they did.
You know, you sort of make peace with what you think your life is going to be.
I was able to do all of those things and that was my definition of success.
Image via Global Road Entertainment
Still, I consider being a working actor a success in it of itself.
But this, thats happening now, is sort of surreal.
FromOJtoThis Is Us,doingMarshallandBlack Panther;now I gotHotel Artemis, Predatoron the way.
Image via Global Road Entertainment
Now, Im in a position where people are asking, What do you want to do next?
We want to be in business with Sterling Brown, how can we be of service?
Thats sort of like, wow.
Image via Global Road Entertainment
I bet this will be tasty.
Im getting toHotel Artemis,but I am a huge Shane Black fan.
I have to know, what did you pay to be inThe Predatorto be able to work with Shane?
BROWN: No, dude.
I read it and I was like, Wow.
He saw me and said, No, this guy can act.
Image via 20th Century Fox
Lets give him something completely different so we can flip the switch on people.
So, that was the first draw.
Shane, I mean,Lethal Weapon,he was 21, bro!
Image via Marvel Studios
21!Kiss Kiss Bang Bangis my joint.
So, theres an investment for him on a personal level.
He and his writing partner, Mr. Dekker, are just bad boys.
Once you read it youre like, Okay Im in.
It was that simple.
Thats why I asked what you paid to be in the movie.
BROWN: What I paid?
You were not paid to be in it, you were paying them.
BROWN: (laughs).
They got Sterling Brown at a bargain basement price.
Similar to the pharmaceutical salesman in your neighborhood, you give them the first one for free.
I completely get it.
Jumping intoHotel Artemis,this is Drews first film.
Did you ever feel like this was Drews first film on set?
BROWN: He knew exactly what he wanted.
Jodie doesnt shrink to anybody.
You mentioned Jodie is a director.
This is also her first film in five years.
So talk a little about being in the film with her and the rest of the great cast.
Okay, let me talk about Jodie first.
Talk about somebody that youve watched since you’ve been a child.
Somebody who has been in this business for over 50 years, right.
Then you drop into the present moment and everything takes care of itself.
Thats what Jodie is.
Shes dropped in, she’s ready- whatever you give her shell give you something back.
So, that was awesome.
Its such an eclectic cast.
I mean, you got Bautista, Charlie Day Sofia, Goldblum, Quinto, myself, Brian.
What a wonderful place to have all these different sorts of personalities forced to deal with one another.
Theres a riot going on outside, so you cant just go away whenever you want to.
You have to deal with these personalities.
Everybody got a chance to do something that they’re not normally asked to do.
So folks collectively relish the opportunity to do something different than what theyve been known to do.
One of the things I really dug about this is that its noir, but its futuristic.
You know what I mean?
BROWN: I do.
Yeah, Im in a three piece suit, but Im wearing tennis shoes, you know.
Those little sorts of nuances made it fun as actors to play.
I think it made it fun for him to direct.
Its noir, but its futuristic.
It is dark, but theres a lot of humor.
The interplay between Everest and The Nurse is absolutely hysterical.
I ask this of all the actors I talk to.
How much does the character youre playing stay with you during a shoot?
BROWN: I know exactly what you mean.
And youll get a different answer from me than you do from my wife.
My answer is completely.
I let it go almost in total.
Now, shell never ask me to stop being Randall because she likes Randall quite a bit.
Randall is definitely an improvement upon Sterling.
Other instances shell catch me doing things and shell say, You know youre in character right?
Im like, Really?
So, Im not always fully attuned to how much it still- the residual is with me.
But you know what I mean-
BROWN: I know exactly what you mean.
Im assuming you shot this during hiatus?
Then you have that little window to recharge yourself.
How much in your head are you like, This is my moment.
BROWN: Ah, that is a 64 dollar question, bro.
You want to take advantage of the moment.
You wait your whole career for the thing thats called heat.
How can you keep this fire going without burning yourself out?
Thats the whole thing.
You want to be the best version of yourself as an actor and everything that you do.
Youre not just trying to do things for volume.
You want to take a stab at knock this shit out.
If you do too much, then you start to water down the product.
You start to water yourself down.
So, Im still finding out what that balance is.
- Then, after a week Ill come back out and be like, Wassup, yall.
Theyre like, Yo, we missed you!
Im like, Yeah, I know.
I just needed to take a little break.
You got to be a part ofBlack Panther.
When did it hit you that were making something special here?
It just let me know the level of hunger that was out there for representation.
At that scale, right?
Theres this idea as an actor that Im told constantly, that African American actors cant open films overseas.
Then you havePantherdo what its done on a global basis.
But, at that premiere, the ovation at the beginning and then just the level of response.
Every little laugh that Coogler laid into it, people laughed.
Every sort of gasps gasp moment that he laid in there, everyone gasped.
It was such a wonderful environment to watch it.
It was my first time seeing the movie, along with all the rest of the crowd.
They really hate us.
We did not give them a reason to hate us with this product that we put out.
I have to go, but what are you doing on your hiatus?
BROWN: Lets see.
I know what it is, if you said Spain.
BROWN: Oh, yeah?
Im doingAngry Birds 2.
