This Is Us

Sterling K. Brown Hopes ‘This Is Us' Inspires Black Viewers to Benefit From Therapy

"I hope Randall is helping to move the needle to realize that it’s OK to ask for help," Brown told TODAY

Sterling K. Brown as Randall in episode 118 of "This Is Us."
Ron Batzdorff/NBC

“This Is Us” star Sterling K. Brown thinks his character on the hit NBC drama can inspire other minorities to seek help.

Brown’s character, Randall, is currently coping with the pandemic and is in the throes of the Black Lives Matter movement. He goes to therapy to deal with his feelings about his personal life and on Tuesday’s 3rd hour of TODAY, Al Roker pointed out that’s not necessarily common in the Black community, prompting Brown to address the benefits it provides.

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“It is of tantamount importance,” Brown said. “There’s so much on life is a struggle for people of color, for minorities, Black folks, in particular. Pick up yourself, figure it out, you know, nobody’s going to give you anything.

“That self-care is something that we’ve denied ourselves for such a long period of time and you develop this armor to face the world and it’s hard for things to get in because you know that’s how you stay protected.”

Brown said Randall may help others understand the value in seeking professional help.

“People are hopefully now realizing — and I hope Randall is helping to move the needle to realize that it’s OK to ask for help. It’s OK not to be impenetrable. Like, stuff gets in and that’s OK and you have to have a proper conduit to discuss it, to let it out, to process it. So, hopefully he’s helped.”

Randall has been an integral character in the current season. He recently discovered that his birth mother, Laurel, did not die shortly after his birth, as he had been led to believe and that she settled in New Orleans, spurring him to visit the Big Easy in the hopes of learning more about her. His trek is expected to be covered in Tuesday's episode.

“It’s just this reminder that the show has that everybody has a story that’s worth being told and people when you first meet them, they may come to you as drug addicts, they may be easily dismissed, but you realize that everyone has a journey and that journey is important to be told,” Brown said.

Brown also said the episode helps Randall come to terms with the fact that his mother is more than just the woman who gave birth to him.

“And for Randall, in particular, it’s nice to know that it’s the first time that he sees his mother’s story that is important in and of itself and now just how it relates to him,” he said.

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