Why Sterling K. Brown Won’t Star in Dan Fogelman’s New NFL Drama Series
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Dan Fogelman and Sterling K. Brown struck gold again together with the apocalyptic drama Paradise on Hulu, which has now been nominated for four Primetime Emmy Awards, including nods for Brown as lead actor and Fogelman for Outstanding Drama Series. Before that, the pair shared in the success of This Is Us (which netted Brown a win, along with four best drama nods for the show). So it’s safe to say they’re a tried and true collaborative pair.
As news of Fogelman’s next project, an NFL drama series, starts to come through (the latest: Christopher Meloni will star as head coach of a team), one has to wonder whether this as-yet-untitled show might mark a Brown-Fogelman threepeat.
Alas, when the two were onhand at San Diego Comic-Con on Saturday (July 26) to promote the still-in-production Paradise Season 2, TV Insider asked if there’s a chance Brown will star in the show and learned that he will not.
“He won’t let me,” Brown said with a giggle.
“It’s a source of contention,” Fogelman also joked before answering in earnest. “Well, Sterling’s an athlete, so it’s fitting that he would be, and my writers are all obsessed with him on the new NFL show, but he has a day job…”
Brown then interjected with an imitative tone, joking, “Is it too much This Is Us? I don’t know! Will people think [blabber noises].”
“The truth is, he’s just too old,” Fogelman then said, earning a riotous laugh from Brown.
The new series is expected to follow generations of a family, with the National Football League as the backdrop, and it will air on Hulu, with Fogelman writing and executive producing.
Though Brown won’t be starring in it — at least, for now — Fogelman did praise the actor for having a multi-dimensional skillset, telling us at the press event, “I’ve always liked actors who can do both things [comedy and drama]. In our second episode of the show coming up this next season, as an example … Sterling has a storyline in the present day and a storyline in the past. And in the present day, it is just a very action hero, active, physical part, and in our backstory, it’s like a classic Richard Curtis romcom. I love actors who can do both of those things.”
Read more about what Brown and Fogelman teased about Paradise Season 2 right here.
Paradise, Hulu
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