It's the beginning of the end for This Is Us.
The NBC drama's sixth and final season premieres this week, and as fans are preparing to say goodbye to the beloved Pearson family, so are the stars who brought the characters to life, including Sterling K. Brown.
The 45-year-old actor—or "the Meryl Streep of the Emmys," as E! News' Justin Sylvester put it—stopped by Daily Pop on Monday, Jan. 3, revealing what wants for Randall, the Pearson's only Black and adopted sibling.
"The happy ending for Randall is more about his state of mind than it is any sort of external achievement," Brown said during the exclusive conversation. "Randall having peace, being comfortable with who he is, knowing that he belongs wherever he is, is what I call happiness for Randall.
"He fights so much within himself," Brown continued. "Is he enough? Is he Black enough? Does he fit in this family? Does he fit in the Black community? I just want him to know that he himself is enough wherever he is. That's what I'm wishing for Randall."
Admittedly, Brown sees parts of himself in Randall.
"I mean, I went to Stanford University, [and] a lot of us sort of suffered from what I would call perfectionism and thinking that you have to be best, but not knowing that just doing your best is enough," he explained. "I think it's an important distinction to make. You put this extra pressure on yourself to be perfect, to be loved, even. I think that's what Randall does."
More specifically, Brown theorized that Randall puts pressure on himself "because he never felt like he was good enough."
"If he was good enough, he never would have gotten left in the first place, right?" Brown said. "So that perfectionism that he lived with is something that I struggled with for a while until I was like, hmm, this is too hard."
"You got to be a little bit more loving if you want to keep moving forward in a way that's not real debilitating," he added. "I hope he gets there. I think he's on the way."
Only time will tell!
Hear more about This Is Us in the above Daily Pop interview. The final chapter begins tomorrow, Tuesday, Jan. 4 on NBC.
Plus, learn all about Survivorship Today, an initiative that's near and dear to Brown's heart. He even recently partnered with Bristol-Myers Squibb for a series called Survivorship Today: What It's Like to Live with Cancer, streaming now at survivorshiptoday.com.