Sterling K. Brown Has Shaped Yet Another Hulu Hit

The "Paradise" star has produced a powerful new Hulu series on Black identity, expectation and legacy.

Sterling K. Brown knows how to wear his vulnerability like armor. From “This Is Us” to “American Fiction,” the Emmy-winning actor has made a career of portraying emotionally complex men whose strength lies not in stoicism, but in how deeply they feel. Now, in “Washington Black,” Brown steps into the role of Medwin Harris, a man who has survived the trauma of slavery and rebuilt a life rooted in purpose.

Starring opposite rising talent Ernest Kingsley Jr., Brown also serves as executive producer on the series, helping shape everything from casting to the creative energy on set. Based on Esi Edugyan’s acclaimed novel, the eight-episode Hulu series follows George Washington “Wash” Black, an 11-year-old boy who flees a Barbados plantation and embarks on a globe-spanning journey toward freedom, imagination and self-definition.

In a conversation with HuffPost, Brown and Kingsley Jr. opened up about what this series means to them as not just artists, but as Black men navigating identity, expectations and legacy.

You’ve played some of the most emotionally layered men on screen. If you could write a letter to Black masculinity, what would the first line say?

Brown: Vulnerability is strength. Strength can manifest in so many different ways, and it’s not about being silent or stoic. There is something incredibly powerful about being able to feel your feelings because it allows you to go through them and it brings you closer to other people when they know that you’re just like them.