Watch Sterling K. Brown's Emotional 'SNL' Opening Monologue

The 'This Is Us' actor was just happy to be there.

March 11, 2018

2018 has been huge for Sterling K. Brown. In addition to starring in one of the biggest superhero movies of all time, the 41-year-old also made history this year by becoming the first black man to win the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a TV Drama as well as a SAG trophy for Best Actor.

Brown’s winning streak continued this week when he made his first-ever appearance on Saturday Night Live alongside musical guest James Bay. And it was a pretty solid debut.

In the opening monologue, the This Is Us star spoke about something he is now well known for: his emotions. "Now most of you probably know me from This Is Us, which is the saddest thing you can watch on TV other than the news," Brown said, to roaring applause. He then mentioned that he has a "reputation for being pretty sensitive."

He then, in a cracked voice, begin talking about how happy he was to be on the sketch comedy show, and performing the monologue on Saturday Night Live is like the "icing on the cake."

Prior to his Studio 8H appearance, Brown described his hosting gig as one of the “more surreal moments of my life.” He also told Us magazine about all the research he conducted before taking the SNL stage.

“I’m going to go back and re-watch a lot of documentaries on how the process goes. I have a few pitches of ideas that I think could possibly make their way into sketches, but I think the best thing to do is to step back,” he said. “The cast, they’re trying to get their ideas on week in and week out, and you want to give them the space to see what they bring to you and if you can like augment, or change, or add a little bit of your own personality to it, then I think that’s the perfect sort of synthesis of how to reach it.”

All the homework paid off.