Sterling K. Brown Thought He ‘Ruined’ Common’s Life With ‘SNL’ Sketch

Sterling K. Brown had a moment of sheer panic after he impersonated Common during a Saturday Night Live skit.

During a Thursday, February 15, interview with Variety, Brown, 47, recalled running into Common, 51, on a flight after parodying him during a March 2018 episode of the sketch comedy show.

“He didn’t speak to me until we got off the plane,” said Brown. “And then he came up and said, ‘That sketch, bro. What’s up with that?’ I told him it was all love — I know he’s a good dude.”

Common, whose real name is Lonnie Rashid Lynn, then told Brown that he’d lost speaking engagements and endorsements over the skit.

“I kept telling him they were just jokes, but he was like, ‘It’s jokes to you, but it’s messing with my bottom line,’” Brown recounted. “I said, ‘Common, are you serious?’ And he said, ‘No, I’m just kidding, dude.’”

Brown had a good laugh over the rapper’s prank, even though it gave him a genuine scare at the time.

“I told him it was the worst thing he’d ever done,” he joked. “I was standing in front of my kids believing I ruined this man’s life.”

During the sketch in question, Brown, who shares sons Andrew, 12, and Amaré, 8, with wife Ryan Michelle Bathe, poked fun at Common’s habit of speaking in inspirational lectures.

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“From Martin [Luther King Jr.] to Malcolm [X] to Barack and Michelle [Obama], we can make light out of dark and find heaven in hell. You’re your own future, come out of your shell,” Brown said while Kenan Thompson, who portrayed Family Feud host Steve Harvey in the skit, yelled, “Go to commercial!”

Thompson’s Harvey repeatedly got fed up with Common’s monologues during the skit.

“Let’s just slow it down there, Dr. Martin Luther Seuss,’” he said, later quipping, “You ain’t no rapper, you’re more like a TED Talk set to music.”

Brown’s spot-on impression of Common may have come as a surprise to fans who know him from the drama This Is Us, but he’s been working on his comedic chops for years.

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“When you’re the guy who’s bigger, and the Black guy, you’re always put in the role of someone with gravitas. Even if you have a sense of humor, you don’t really get to be the quirky comedian guy,” he said. “I had to cultivate my own sense of humor knowing that I might not get those roles immediately, but I had to be ready when I did.”

Brown got to explore his playful side in the 2023 film American Fiction, in which he played Jeffrey Wright’s free-spirited younger brother, Cliff.

“It was a lot of fun to be the Kevin-slash-Cliff,” Brown said, comparing his character in the film to Justin Hartley’s role in This Is Us.