Sterling K. Brown Talks Shocking Twist in Paradise Premiere (Exclusive)

Warning: this story contains spoilers from the first episode of Hulu’s Paradise.

Sterling K. Brown thought he knew what to expect when he was reunited with This is us created by Dan Fogelman for ParadiseHulu’s new political thriller. But even Brown was taken aback by the television writer’s characteristic twists in the story.

In the new series, which released its debut episode early on Sunday, January 26, Brown plays Secret Service agent and single father of two Xavier Collins, who becomes the prime suspect in the investigation into the shocking assassination of President Cal Bradford (James Marsden).

The premiere episode follows Xavier as he discovers the president’s body and quietly begins to investigate the murder on his own, before it is revealed that Xavier and the rest of his colleagues live in a heavily controlled underground bunker. However, two mysteries remain: who killed President Bradford and how/why are these people there?

Brown, 48, was one of many shocked by the twist, telling PEOPLE that even he found the pilot’s ending to be unexpected, despite knowing how Fogelman, 48, often operates.

“I said, ‘You son of a gun. You did it again,'” Brown recalls telling Fogelman. “Because I forgot who I was dealing with. I thought I was just watching a political thriller and I’m trying to find out who killed the president. And that was enough. I was completely satisfied.”

“And then I find out that it’s all happening in this bunker, that sunshine isn’t sunshine, that ducks aren’t fashion-eating ducks,” he continues. “There is something completely and completely different.”

Brown, who most recently worked with Fogelman on the hit NBC series This is us from 2016-2022 (which also had a pilot full of surprises), adds of the show creator: “The guy has a way. I look at the promos for the show and we see Cal Bradford, we see Marsden laying on the floor with blood I came out of his head, ‘Have we given too much away?’ (But) we haven’t given it away, anything — it’s just the tip of the iceberg.”

Before that moment, Brown says Fogelman had paid him the ultimate compliment by writing the script with him specifically in mind. “I’ve read 106 of his scripts until I read the pilot, and then it was 107. And that was as good as the 106 I worked on him on This is us“, he explains.

More than playing the dramatic role, Brown was excited to reunite with his friend again.

“He’s a good person,” it shares American fiction star of Fogelman. “We have, in this business, talented people who are unfriendly. And I’ve been mostly thankful not to spend a lot of time with those people. The people that God has put in my path have been both of those things, and Dan is at the top of that list, and so I knew it wasn’t just going to be a good show — I knew I was going to have a good time doing that show.

“If he wasn’t him, it wouldn’t be the same,” adds Brown, noting that taking on the role of Xavier was also exciting because it was shot in Los Angeles in a very familiar location: Paramount Studios, same location where This is us was filmed.

“It’s pretty much my entire crew from This is us is on this show,” he explains. “The same hair and makeup department is there. It feels familiar and different at the same time.”

“It’s like the whole family went on this big family vacation to Australia and … we’ve been looking at lions and now we’re looking at a kangaroo,” adds Brown. “So we all get a chance to do it together. All those things combined to create a kind of perfect reunion.”

Brown hopes fans will be inspired and “feel seen” as the show progresses.

“Even when it’s painful, I have in the back of my mind that someone will see what this character is going through and they will recognize themselves inside it … it gives me great joy to help people feel less alone, ” he says.

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Paradise‘s first episode is now streaming on Hulu, and the next two episodes will be released on Tuesday, January 28.