Sterling K. Brown’s turn as a gay man in ‘American Fiction’ is truly award-worthy—& not just because he’s jacked
gay actors like Colman Domingo (Rustin), Jodie Foster (Nyad), and Andrew Scott (All Of Us Strangers) have the chance to become part of Oscars history if nominated for their LGBTQ+ roles, another contender has recently emerged and grabbed our attention.On Wednesday morning, the Screen Actors Guild announced their crop of nominees for the 2024 SAG Awards.
Among those nominated for Outstanding Performance By A Male Actor In A Supporting Role was Sterling K. Brown, for his turn as recently out man Cliff Ellison in the comedy American Fiction.Known for his work in American Crime Story and This Is Us, Brown may be straight—he’s been married to his college sweetheart, actress Ryan Michelle Bathe, since 2006—but he delivers a sensitive and nuanced portrait of a Black, gay man in the film, one that certainly feels worthy of awards attention.Subscribe to our daily newsletter for a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.Plus, it certainly doesn’t hurt that he looks like this in the movie:*Minor spoilers ahead for the plot of American Fiction*In his first feature, journalist-turned-filmmaker Cord Jefferson (who has writing credits on Watchmen, The Good Place and more) adapts writer Percival Everett’s 2001 novel Erasure for the big screen, cleverly examining how our culture commodifies Blackness.
Both a razor-sharp satire and tear-jerking family drama, American Fiction centers on author and professor Monk Ellison (the great Jeffrey Wright), who is dismayed that his books don’t sell copies—because they’re quote-unquote “not black enough”—while colleagues find success by leaning into the same old racial tropes.At a low point, he writes an intentionally hack novel about the stereotypical Black experience under a pseudonym, which quickly becomes a sensation in the publishing world and beyond, to his surprise.Meanwhile, Monk’s dealing with a loss in his family while figuring out how to care for his elderly mother.
