--- title: Sterling K Brown Time 100 Gala description: Emmy-winning actor Sterling K. Brown, who stars in NBC's hit television series This Is Us, is ready to preserve intergalactic order. “I wouldn’t mind being... canonical: https://time.com/5248865/sterling-k-brown-on-green-lantern-at-time-100/ author: Melissa Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-04-24T23:53:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:06:14.590Z og:title: Sterling K. Brown Wants to Play Green Lantern og:description: He's ready to step in og:url: https://time.com/5248865/sterling-k-brown-on-green-lantern-at-time-100/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd8bc6635376b6201/69892e668fd2eedfc935b65e/sterling-k-brown.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Saturday Night Live - Season 43 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Sterling K. Brown Wants to Play Green Lantern twitter:description: He's ready to step in twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd8bc6635376b6201/69892e668fd2eedfc935b65e/sterling-k-brown.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why Sterling K. Brown Is Ready to Play Green Lantern  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Apr 24, 2018 11:53 PM UTC  SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE -- Episode 1740 "Sterling K. Brown" -- Pictured: Host Sterling K. Brown during the Opening Monologue in Studio 8H on Saturday, March 10, 2018 -- (Photo by: Will Heath/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE -- Episode 1740 "Sterling K. Brown" -- Pictured: Host Sterling K. Brown during the Opening Monologue in Studio 8H on Saturday, March 10, 2018 -- (Photo by: Will Heath/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)NBC—NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Apr 24, 2018 11:53 PM UTC Emmy-winning actor Sterling K. Brown, who stars in NBC’s hit television series _This Is Us,_ is ready to preserve intergalactic order. “I wouldn’t mind being the Green Lantern. It would be fun. I’ve been watching cartoons since I was a kid. There was a black man portraying the Green Lantern. To see someone who looked like me meant a lot,” Brown said at Tuesday night’s TIME 100 Gala, where he is an honoree. Brown is no stranger to heroics. He appeared in [_Black Panther_](http://time.com/black-panther/), Marvel’s blockbuster about a black superhero, as Prince N’Jobu, who is the main character T’Challa’s uncle. Brown made history in January when he became the first black man to win a Golden Globe Award for lead actor in a TV drama, for his role in _This Is Us._ He’s also the first black man to win an [Emmy for best actor in a drama](http://time.com/4945718/sterling-k-brown-emmys-speech/) in 19 years. The television drama, which centers around the Pearson family, is known for its tearjerking storyline and its emotional episodes about death and adversity. But it was the tale of an orphan boy and a magical dragon that gets Brown tearing up in real life. “I think my biggest cry was when my son and I went to see _Pete’s Dragon_. I bawled like a little baby,” he said, adding that his son started to cry, too. “We had his beautiful bonding moment. When it was over, I was still crying.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5248865/sterling-k-brown-on-green-lantern-at-time-100/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5248865/sterling-k-brown-on-green-lantern-at-time-100/"},"headline":"Why Sterling K. Brown Is Ready to Play Green Lantern","datePublished":"2018-04-24T23:53:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:06:14.590Z","description":"Emmy-winning actor Sterling K. Brown, who stars in NBC's hit television series This Is Us, is ready to preserve intergalactic order. “I wouldn’t mind being...","url":"https://time.com/5248865/sterling-k-brown-on-green-lantern-at-time-100/","keywords":["Newsfeed","celebrities","GALA","onetime","T1002018"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd8bc6635376b6201/69892e668fd2eedfc935b65e/sterling-k-brown.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd8bc6635376b6201/69892e668fd2eedfc935b65e/sterling-k-brown.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Saturday Night Live - Season 43","caption":"Saturday Night Live - Season 43","creditText":"NBC—NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5248865/sterling-k-brown-on-green-lantern-at-time-100/","name":"Why Sterling K. Brown Is Ready to Play Green Lantern"}}]}] ```