Ryan Michelle Bathe and Sterling K. Brown are married (Image: GETTY)
The gripping series Paradise is now streaming on Disney Plus and Hulu, set within an exclusive community home to top government officials. Sterling K. Brown stars as Xavier Collins, the last person to encounter President Cal Bradford, portrayed by James Marsden, before his untimely death.
Sterling K Brown, a 48-year-old actor hailing from Missouri, was honoured in Time magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in 2018. He has gained widespread acclaim for his performances in This Is Us and The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story.
The acclaimed actor, who has two sisters and two brothers, faced the loss of his father, also named Sterling, at the tender age of 10. During his childhood, he went by the name Kelby, but at 16, he chose to embrace the name Sterling.
He shared with People magazine: “I went by Kelby. My mom tells me this story – she was reiterating it the other day – in kindergarten I came home one day and said, ‘Mom, Sterling is eight letters and Kelby is five. I’ll just do Kelby and then when I turn 16, I will go by Sterling’.
“And I don’t remember that. The impetus for me is that he had been gone for some time, and I was like, ‘Kelby was a little boy’s name.’ I felt like I was ready to become Sterling.”
Stirling K Brown plays Xavier Collins in Paradise (Image: DISNEY)
Initially, Brown didn’t envision a career in acting; he planned to pursue economics with an emphasis on business. However, during his freshman year, he discovered a passion for acting and went on to complete a post-graduate degree at New York University Tisch School of the Arts.
Drama professor Harry Elam Jr was on the hunt for black students to feature in a production of August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, and Sterling secured a role in the play. Following the show’s conclusion, Harry imparted some words of wisdom to Sterling.
In an interview with The Mercury News, Sterling recounted: “He told me, ‘I know you don’t plan on majoring in (theater), but you might just want to hang around the drama department and have some fun with it, because you’ve got some talent’.
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Sterling K Brown changed his name when he was 16 (Image: GETTY)
“I realized that every time I did a play, my grades got better. That’s because it fed my soul. It took a couple of years for me to figure out that my hobby really was my calling.”
Sterling’s breakthrough role came when he played Christopher Darden in The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, preceding his portrayal of Randall Pearson in This Is Us.
He is married to actress Ryan Michelle Bathe, whom he met during his freshman year at Stanford. The couple resided in the same college dorm and performed together in a university production.
Ryan is recognised for her roles in Boston Legal, First Wives Club and The Endgame. She shared the screen with her husband in both Army Wives and This Is Us.
The couple eloped discreetly in March 2006 but hosted a larger ceremony the following year. They have two sons, Andrew and Amare.
However, their relationship wasn’t without its challenges, with Sterling revealing that they had experienced numerous ups and downs, including multiple breakups and a three-year period of not speaking to each other.
It was only when Ryan relocated to LA that they decided to give a long-distance relationship a shot, and it turned out to be successful.
Paradise is available to watch on Disney Plus and Hulu