Sterling K. Brown just made history.
The This Is Us star won Best Actor in a TV drama at the Golden Globes on Sunday, marking the first time a Black actor has won in the category.
In his acceptance speech, he thanked his wife and children and noted the magnitude of the honor. The 41-year-old actor also took time to thank the hit show’s creator for carving out the role of Randall Pearson.
“Throughout the majority of my career, I’ve benefited from colorblind casting, which means, ‘Hey, let’s throw a brother in there.’ That’s always really cool. But Dan Fogelman, you wrote a role for a Black man that can only be played by a Black man,” he said. “So what I appreciate so much about this is that I’m being seen for who I am and being appreciated for who I am, and it makes it that much more difficult to dismiss me or dismiss anybody who looks like me.”
Backstage, Sterling K. Brown continued to highlight the magnitude of the honor.
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“I was thinking I’ve never been the first brother to do anything,” he said. “I was the fourth black student council at my high school, I was the second black JV captain of my basketball team. To finally be the first of something is interesting because I never consider myself a trailblazer… I try to stand in my truth all the time. If I come from a place of truth all the time, then I can’t worry about trying to be Jackie Robinson or anybody else. I’m honored that they chose to honor a little network show and a character that gets 45 minutes to tell their story when other shows have 60. I feel a tremendous amount of pride and I look forward to seeing someone else stand up here and hold this trophy not 75 years from now.”
This isn’t the first time Brown had made history with his acting accomplishments. He’s also the first Black actor in 20 years to win an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a drama series.