Sterling K. Brown Accused of Killing the President in Hulu’s ‘Paradise’ Trailer

Sterling K. Brown at the 55th NAACP Image Awards on March 16, 2024 in Los Angeles. Arnold Turner/Getty Images for NAACP

Sterling K. Brown is under investigation for the murder of the president in his new series, Paradise.

The Hulu series was announced back in 2023, but not much was known at the time about what Brown and This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman had in store for their reunion project. Hulu handed out a straight-to-series order less than a year after their Emmy-winning and beloved NBC drama wrapped its storied run.

Now, Paradise is taking shape with a trailer, synopsis and premiere date of Jan. 28, 2025 — as well as a stunt sending viewers to the @ParadiseonHulu Instagram account for more show information before the account goes private on Friday. The series launches with three episodes, and then releases the remaining episodes weekly.

Here’s the logline: “Paradise is set in a serene community inhabited by some of the world’s most prominent individuals. But this tranquility explodes when a shocking murder occurs and a high-stakes investigation unfolds.”

The trailer (below) doesn’t exactly show a “serene community.” Brown’s Xavier Collins, head of White House Secret Service, is quickly investigated for the death of the president (played by James Marsden), whom he discovers dead next to his bed. The high-stakes probe takes a turn when a flashback reveals that Brown’s character was let in on top-secret information, and now he’s being coached from the inside on how to answer the questions during his investigation.

The series also stars Julianne Nicholson, Sarah Shahi, Nicole Brydon Bloom, Aliyah Mastin and Percy Daggs IV.

When speaking to THR when This Is Us ended, Brown perhaps planted the seed for a political drama that could reunite him with his This Is Us boss. That series ended with his politician character, Randall Pearson, considering larger White House aspirations, and that led to this reporter asking if a political spinoff could be in the works down the line.

“[Fogelman] had this idea after somebody put something on Twitter saying, ‘Sterling Brown should be the new president on The West Wing.’ I was like, ‘Hey Aaron Sorkin, if you’re thinking about something, let me know!’ And everyone was like, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah!’ And then Dan said, ‘What if we made Randall president, and then Sorkin took over as the new West Wing?’ I was like, ‘That’s ambitious, bro,’” said Brown.

But he did say that if Fogelman wrote it, he would do it, and he also kept the door open to revisiting Randall perhaps down the line. “If Fogelman is involved, I have to consider it,” he said.

Fogelman also pointed out to THR that “a throwaway line in the [This Is Us series] finale referenced the DNC inviting Randall to Iowa, which is traditionally the first stop in the White House candidacy journey,” said the creator. “Randall’s political journey ahead of him is probably the closest we come in the show to our Sopranos going-to-black-at-the-end-of-the-episode moment. You’re left to choose your own adventure as to what you think happened. There were definitely conversations, a lot of conversations, about how we were showing the end of Randall’s political journey,. We all felt that if we hypothetically flashed forward to Randall sitting in the White House, that wasn’t what the show is, and it would have broken a little bit. So we love ending on the promise of a further start for this exceptional character, without going all the way there.”

Perhaps, Paradise is the ultimate Easter egg for This Is Us fans, as it puts Brown in proximity to POTUS, at least when the series begins.

Paradise is the second series at Hulu for Fogelman, joining Only Murders in the Building where he exec produces. Brown also stars in the Hulu limited series Washington Black, also produced by 20th TV, which is awaiting a premiere date.

Paradise is a 20th Television production, where Fogelman has his overall deal, and is executive produced by Fogelman, Brown, John Requa, Glenn Ficarra, John Hoberg, Jess Rosenthal and Steve Beers.

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