Sterling K. Brown isn’t so sure he’ll be winning an Oscar this year.
The “American Fiction” star received his first-ever nomination from the Academy Awards last month for Best Supporting Actor but, during a humble showing on “The Graham Norton Show” Friday, said Robert Downey Jr. already has that trophy in the bag.
“Downey Jr.’s gonna win, and he’s incredibly deserving, he’s an incredible actor,” Brown told Norton. “Like, you should give him love. The fact that I get a chance to be nominated along with Mr. De Niro and Ryan Gosling and [Mark] Ruffalo,I’m just happy to be in the room.”
Brown appeared on the British talk show alongside actors Dakota Johnson, Domhnall Gleeson and Colman Domingo, and quipped that the latter, who was nominated as best actor for his performance in “Rustin,” will “probably win” over Brown in his own bracket, if not Downey Jr.
Brown remains best known as one of the leads in “This Is Us,” which ran for six seasons from 2016 to 2022 and resulted in five Emmy nominations and one Golden Globe nod for the actor.
The Missouri native was overwhelmed at his first Oscar nomination.
“I just have to tell you guys how your boy woke up this morning” he said on Instagram at the time.
Brown was getting ready to take his kids to school, he recounted, “but then I go back to grab my phone and a brother has like 126 messages. And I’m like, ‘How come I got so many damn messages?’ I got nominated for an Oscar. It’s crazy.”
Brown added that he’s watched the ceremony his entire life and that it’s “an honor to get an invite” for the first time in his career.
He faces stiff competition, however, as Downey Jr.’s biggest post-Marvel role could land the longtime “Iron Man” lead his first Oscar win.
This year’s ceremony also promises some historic moments, as “Killers of the Flower Moon” star Lily Gladstone could become the first Native American to ever win a competitive acting Oscar — and Martin Scorsese’s nod makes him the most-nominated living director in the category.
The 96th Academy Awards air March 10 on ABC.
