The Boys has been delighting and disgusting fans for four seasons now as one of the best sci-fi series on Amazon Prime, but sadly that’s all coming to an end in 2025 (or whenever Season 5 comes out). The casting over the past five years has been stunning, skyrocketing actors like Jack Quaid to fame (is it just me or is he in, like, every movie on the 2025 calendar?) and hiring actors like Giancarlo Esposito and Jensen Ackles for substantial characters. It turns out Sterling K. Brown was also once offered a role, and I’ve got a guess about which character that might have been.
Sterling K. Brown Talks Turning Down A Role On The Boys
Sterling K. Brown has turned in some fantastic performances in his career, earning three Emmys for three different projects, including his role as Randall Pearson on the beloved NBC tearjerker This Is Us. He was also nominated for an Academy Award for his role in American Fiction. This all means Brown has gotten to be more selective about the parts he accepts, and he revealed to Variety that The Boys was one show he turned down. The actor said:
I think it was a bad guy [role], because it was very tempting. But a full-season arc, they are in Toronto — it’s tough. Listen, these are Champagne problems I’m talking about here! But because I’m blessed enough to already have certain things in place, I get a chance to be a bit more choosy.
Sterling K. Brown said he was heartbroken to reject an offer to work with Eric Kripke again after previously appearing on four episodes of Supernatural, and I would love to say that I’m thrilled for the actor to be in such a fortunate position, but damn that’s disappointing. So the big question is, what role was Brown offered?
Could Sterling K. Brown Have Been Offered The Role Of Joe Kessler?
This Is Us’ Randall was a consummate sweetheart, but I have no doubt Sterling K. Brown would have relished playing a big bad, and there are definitely plenty of those to go around on The Boys. Given what he said about it being a season-long arc, I’m wondering if he was offered Joe Kessler — a role that ultimately went to Jeffrey Dean Morgan.
If you don’t remember the big Kessler reveal in Season 4’s “Dirty Business” — you can stream the episode with an Amazon Prime subscription, but I’m going to spoil it here anyway — we learned that Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s character died years ago, and Butcher (Karl Urban) was merely manifesting the devil on his shoulder all season in the same way Becca’s ghost appeared as Butcher’s angel. It was very Fight Club but still quite effective.
I can totally see Sterling K. Brown in that role, and the only reason I’m not super bummed it didn’t happen is because Jeffrey Dean Morgan was just so delicious as the villain.
I could be wrong, too. Brown didn’t specify which season he was offered the role, so it’s always possible it was a different character. I don't think it would have been Jensen Ackles' Soldier Boy, bit I could easily picture him playing Stan Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito) or in a governmental position like Claudia Doumit’s Victoria Neuman (RIP), but they have appeared throughout the series, not just one season.
Either way, it all likely worked out well for everyone involved, and as The Boys’ fifth and final season looms, Sterling K. Brown has reunited with This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman for Paradise, which can be streamed with a Hulu subscription when it premieres Tuesday, January 28.
