A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Sterling K. Brown was always inclined towards acting. He was a frequent participant in plays during his high schools. He entered Stanford University, originally taking up economics, but his childhood interests got the better of him; he shifted to drama in his junior year. He later studied at the Tisch School of the Arts of the New York University, where he earned his master’s degree.
Brown’s acting prowess was first exhibited in plays around Stanford, and after graduating from Tisch, in regional theater. He made his screen acting debut in 2002, when he appeared in the television movie Smallpox 2002: Silent Weapon. He played several guest roles on television, appearing in shows such as NYPD Blue, JAG, ER, Boston Legal, Alias, Without a Trace, Shark and Eli Stone.
Brown’s first regular television role was in the short-lived comedy Starved. Premiered in 2005, it was about a group of friends who have eating disorders. He plays Adam Williams, a police officer who has bulimia. Throughout the show’s run, he abuses his authority to extort food from restaurants and delivery people, in an effort to get rid of his disorder; this eventually gets him fired from his job. The series received mostly negative reviews and was ultimately cancelled because of dismal ratings.
His next regular television role was in the drama Army Wives, which first aired in 2007. There, he played the role of Roland Burton, an “army husband” (as opposed to the title) whose wife, Joan Burton (Wendy Davis), is on duty in Afghanistan. This series was more successful, receiving rave reviews and getting high ratings. He also had a recurring role in the hit paranormal series Supernatural, where he played aggressive and cold vampire hunter Gordon Walker in the show’s second and third season.