Sterling Brown Joins Hulu’s ‘Washington Black’ as First Post-‘This Is Us’ TV Project

Sterling K. Brown
Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

Sterling K. Brown has set up his next TV gig following his run with NBC’s hit drama This Is Us.

The actor will star in and executive produce Washington Black, a series based on Esi Edugyan’s best-selling book. Already given a series order, the title has been in the works for some time at the streamer. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Selwyn Seyfu Hinds has been tapped to adapt the novel for TV.

Selwyn Seyfu Hind

Selwyn Seyfu Hind (Credit: Gregg DeGuire/Getty Images for the 45th Annual HUMANITAS Prize)

Black Washington tells the story of George Washington “Wash” Black, an 11-year-old who lives on a Barbados sugar plantation in the 19th century. When a death upends his life, Washington flees the plantation and travels the world, finding adventure and love along the way.

Brown has been cast in the role of Medwin Harris, a character who traveled the world after a traumatic upbringing as a Black refugee in Nova Scotia. Now the de factor Mayor of Black Halifax, he puts his community first except when it comes to young protégé Washington.

This is the second This Is Us star to set their next big TV gig as Justin Hartley reteamed with series executive producer Ken Olin for CBS’s forthcoming The Never Game. The long-running NBC favorite will take its final bow in 2022 when the show returns during the midseason.

“Washington Black inspires me. This young man and the adventure he undertakes remind me of how the power of imagination and the creativity of artistry can transform the world in which we live,” Brown said in a statement. “Selwyn Seyfu Hinds has taken the transcendent words of Esi Edugyan and created a spectacular universe that brings to fruition the power of possibility.”

Stay tuned for more on the upcoming series as Washington Black takes shape at Hulu.

Washington Black, TBA, Hulu