Golden Globe Winner Sterling K. Brown Says ‘This Is Us’ “Makes It Harder To Dismiss Me”

UPDATED with video: “Oprah!” Brown said, not the first to acknowledge her presence in the front row as he accepted his Globe. Brown made history as the first African American to win the category. Accepting his first Golden Globe after two nominations, Brown also thanked This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman, saying that after a career in which the actor had often defied stereotype casting, This Is Us marked a different kind of triumph.

“Throughout the majority of my career I’ve benefited from color-blind casting,” Brown said. “Dan Fogelman, you wrote a role for a black man, that can only be played by a black man. And so what I appreciate so much about this thing is that I’m being seen for who I am and being appreciated for who I am. And it makes it that much more difficult to dismiss me or dismiss anybody who looks like me. You wrote a role for a black man that could only be played by a black man. I’m being seen as a black man and that makes it harder to dismiss me.”

Brown took home an Emmy last year for the same This Is Us role.