ST. LOUIS — From the age of 6, Sterling K. Brown began speaking in tongues to pray. Most Sundays, he accompanied his mother to church.
The church, which he says played an “instrumental” role in making him the man he is today, is at the center of his new film, the satirical comedy “Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.”
It will be released Friday in theaters and on Peacock.
St. Louis native Brown, 46, plays Pastor Lee-Curtis Childs, who once served a congregation of tens of thousands and embraced the lifestyle of a godly high roller. A scandal forces him and his wife, first lady Trinitie Childs, to temporarily close their Southern Baptist megachurch. Lee-Curtis and Trinitie, played by Regina Hall, are determined to rebuild their congregation and make a comeback on Easter Sunday. They agree to let a “documentary” crew follow their efforts to reopen, which are riddled with obstacles and high jinks.
In Brown’s first major role since Randall Pearson on “This Is Us,” which came to an end in May, the Emmy-winning actor chose a starkly different character from the kind, ambitious, devoted family man he played for six seasons on NBC.
Childs is a far more flawed human. He has a penchant for Prada suits and guards a secret that could destroy everything he has built.
“I have deep empathy for him,” Brown says of his character. “I think both (Lee-Curtis and Trinitie) start with honorable intentions, then the more they find themselves in positions of power and prestige ... the trappings can be as intoxicating as the original North Star as saving souls.”
The film offers a satirical critique of the commodification of religion and pokes the “prosperity gospel” in the eye. But it doesn’t take cheap shots at the faithful.
Brown counts himself among the faithful. He attended many churches as a child in St. Louis. When his mother found something about the message or the congregation that didn’t quite suit her, they would move on in search of greener pastures, he says.
A devout Christian, she challenges him when he plays a role she doesn’t like.
“‘How does that honor God?’” she recently asked him.
“Well, God created this person,” he told her. “That person’s story is worthy of being told.”
The process of embodying a character allows Brown to deepen his understanding and empathy for others.
“You can’t play someone and judge them at the same time,” he says.
Plus, he points out that no human institution, such as the church, can be perfect because humans are flawed beings.
The film, which uses a light touch to tackle serious issues within the megachurch movement, can be seen as an expression of Brown’s own faith journey. He now attends a God-based spiritual center in Los Angeles that is part of the Religious Science movement.
“You can be of any faith or no faith and still attend this church,” he says. “I recognize there are many different ways to have an authentic relationship with God.” He describes God as “divine love” that doesn’t exclude anyone.
The idea of serving God is still a driving force in his life, although in a far less dogmatic way than his upbringing. This evolution also makes him realize how much change is possible.
He talks about growing up surrounded by a significant amount of homophobia.
“It was common, so deeply embedded, that you weren’t even aware that something that you said was homophobic,” he says.
After graduating in 1994 from MICDS, he attended Stanford University and earned a master of fine arts from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.
Leaving St. Louis allowed Brown to meet people from a wide variety of backgrounds. The exposure challenged some of his assumptions and beliefs.
It’s a wish he has for his beloved hometown, which he recognizes is still highly segregated by race and economic class.
“I would love for everyone in the city to have the opportunity to leave where you came from and then come back,” Brown says.
As much as he likes to praise St. Louis as the place that grounded him in solid relationships and taught him common courtesy — such as saying “please” and “thank you” and looking people in the eye — he acknowledges that there’s a closed-mindedness that comes from people sticking to their own bubbles.
Growing up, his best friend’s parents had a church. They saw something in Brown from a young age and predicted he could become a preacher one day.
What was it about Brown that prompted such a prediction?
“I think there is a high degree of overlap between the performative nature of actors and pastors,” he says. Brown was the kid who could talk to adults, summarize ideas and explain things to others.
He says there are some similarities between him and Pastor Lee-Curtis in “Honk for Jesus.”
“I am not afraid of the spotlight, and Lee-Curtis is not afraid,” he says. Brown likes to open the blinds for the world to peek in at his life, while his wife — actor Ryan Michelle Bathe, who was born in St. Louis and grew up in Connecticut — is the one who closes them. He thinks that Lee-Curtis believes he is doing the Lord’s work and saving souls.
“I love to share God with people, but not in a preachy way,” he says. He considers his actions to be more important than words.
But as viewers will quickly learn from “Honk for Jesus,” this man can also preach.
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