LA Dinner

Academy Award nominee and three-time Emmy Award winning actor and producer Sterling K. Brown currently stars opposite Jeffrey Wright in Amazon/MGM’s AMERICAN FICTION. Premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival, the film won the People’s Choice Award and Brown has received the Denver Film Festival’s Excellence in Acting Award, and has been nominated for an Academy Award, SAG Award, Independent Spirit Award, NAACP Image Award and Critics’ Choice Award. In 2022, Brown starred in Focus Features’ HONK FOR JESUS. SAVE YOUR SOUL, which he produced, and which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. He received an NAACP Image Award nomination for his role.

Brown currently stars in season 2 of the Amazon animated series INVINCIBLE, where he portrays the villainess Angstrom Levy. This May, he will star opposite Jennifer Lopez in the Netflix futuristic action film ATLAS. He recently wtapped production on Hulu’s limited series WASHINGTON BLACK, an adaptation of Esi Edugyan’s novel, which he is also producing. Next up, Brown will reunite with Dan Fogelman to star in and produce the Hulu scripted series PARADISE CITY.

Brown is best known for starring in NBC’s critically acclaimed drama series THIS IS US. For his role as Randall Pearson, Brown has received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, as well as five consecutive nominations in the category. He also received a Golden Globe Award for ‘Best Performance by an Actor in a Drama Series,’ becoming the first African American actor to win his category in the award show’s 75-year history. Additionally, Brown made history by becoming the first African American actor to receive the SAG Award for Outstanding Male Actor in a Drama. He has also received two SAG awards alongside his cast for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, as well as the African American Film Critics Association ‘Best Actor’ award for two consecutive years. In 2018, Brown was included in TIME magazine’s list of 100 most influential people in the world.

In 2021, Brown executive produced and co-hosted the OWN television special HONORING OUR KINGS: OWN HONORS BLACK FATHERHOOD, alongside Oprah Winfrey. He also narrated CNN’s six-part docuseries LINCOLN: DIVIDED WE STAND, which took an honest and raw look at the remarkable story of Abraham Lincoln and what his story means for us today. He received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Narrator for his work. Brown also contributed his voice to the Netflix project AMEND: THE FIGHT FOR AMERICA, which focused on the evolving, often lethal, fight for equal rights in America through the lens of the US Constitution's 14th Amendment.

In 2018, Brown co-starred in Marvel’s Academy Award winning film BLACK PANTHER. The blockbuster broke worldwide box office records in its release, with Brown earning a SAG Award alongside the ensemble cast. Brown also led the cast of Fox’s sci-fi thriller THE PREDATOR and starred in the action film HOTEL ARTEMIS, alongside Jodie Foster and Brian Tyree Henry. In 2017, Brown co-starred in the drama MARSHALL, receiving an NAACP Image Award nomination for his performance. In 2016, Brown co-starred alongside Tina Fey in Paramount’s WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT. His additional film credits include THE RHYTHM SECTION, ANGRY BIRDS 2, OUR IDIOT BROTHER, THE SUSPECT, RIGHTEOUS KILL, TRUST THE MAN and SPACEMAN.

A lover of theater, Brown has performed in a variety of staged shows, including NY and LA productions of FATHER COMES HOME FROM THE WARS (PARTS 1, 2 & 3), for which he won an NAACP Theatre Award and was nominated for an Ovation Award. His additional stage credits include MACBETH, THE BROTHER/SISTER PLAYS and THE RESISTABLE RISE OF ARTURO UI opposite Al Pacino.

Brown graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Drama from Stanford University, before receiving his Master’s Degree in Fine Arts from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. He currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife and two children.

Winner of five Emmys and an additional seven nominations, as well as a Tony^® nomination, Grammy^® nomination and four Critics' Choice Awards wins, Jean Smart has continued to receive rave reviews and multiple award nominations and wins for her performances as Deborah Vance in the HBO Max comedy HACKS. Smart made history with her 2021 Emmy award win for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for HACKS, joining Betty White as the only other actor to complete the comedy trifecta of having an Emmy in the comedy lead, supporting and guest categories. That win, along with several others for HACKS, earned her admittance to an elite group of actors who have swept all five major TV awards in a single television season — Emmys, Golden Globes, SAG Awards, Critics Choice Awards and Television Critics Association. A third season of HACKS is slated to premiere May 2, 2024.

Slated for production later this year, Smart is set to star opposite Andy Samberg in the May-December romantic comedy titled 42.6 years for Amazon Studios. Created and co-written by Samberg, the story centers on a young man (Samberg) who, in order to save his life, undergoes an experimental procedure in which he is cryogenically frozen. When he wakes up 42.6 years later, physically unchanged thanks to being frozen, he finds himself alone in a future with no one to turn to but his ex-girlfriend, who is now much older than him (played by Smart).

Also announced, Jean will star in, and executive produce the feature film, MISS MACY, directed by and produced by Tate Taylor along with Amblin Partners. The movie is based on the true story of Trisha Mitchell Coburn, a small-town girl from Alabama who attended the Miss Macy charm school before being launched as a successful model. The indie, with a screenplay by Beth Henley, will portray Smart as the titular Miss Macy, an eccentric woman who sees something in the young Trisha and sets her on a path to success.

Additionally on TV, in the HBO limited series, MARE OF EASTTOWN, which premiered in April 2021, Smart portrayed Kate Winslet’s mother, earning her an Emmy nomination for her supporting role, as well as nominations for the Hollywood Critics Association Awards, Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards, Critics’ Choice Awards, Gold Derby TV Awards and Screen Actors Guild Awards. In 2019, Smart received accolades for her role as Special Agent Laurie Blake alongside Regina King and Jeremy Irons in the HBO series, WATCHMEN, based on the original groundbreaking graphic novel of the same name. She won the 2020 Critics Choice Award and received a 2020 Emmy nomination for Supporting Actress in a Drama for this performance. Additionally, Smart guest starred on Noah Hawley’s FX series, LEGION; starred as “Floyd Gerhardt” on the second season of Hawley’s acclaimed series FARGO on FX, for which she won a Critics’ Choice Award and was nominated for an Emmy Award; and she appeared in the Bravo series DIRTY JOHN, starring alongside Connie Britton, Jake Abel and Eric Bana.

Notably, Smart made her presence known on the big screen and garnered an Independent Spirit Award nomination for her critically acclaimed performance in the Miramax feature film GUINEVERE. On stage, she was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for LAST SUMMER at Bluefish Cove and for a Tony Award for Best Actress for her starring role on Broadway opposite Nathan Lane in THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER. In 2016, she also received a Grammy nomination for Best Spoken Word Album for her work on PATIENCE AND SARAH.

On April 25, 2022, she received a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.