Sterling K. Brown Says ‘American Fiction’ Flexes How He’s ‘Much Sillier Than People Give Me Credit For’

Sterling K. Brown’s character in “American Fiction,” Cliff Ellison, doesn’t show up on screen until 20 minutes into Cord Jefferson’s acclaimed movie about race and family. But when he does arrive, he makes quite an entrance, chasing a preppy neighbor down the beach while threatening him that he’ll “eat your sweater vest.”

And for the rest of the movie, Cliff appears sparingly, but to maximum effect. The character is a plastic surgeon who lives in Tucson and recently came out of the closet. He’s fed up with his college-professor novelist brother, Thelonious (Jeffrey Wright), but Brown and Jefferson keep revealing fresh sides to Cliff throughout the film.