‘This Is Us’: Sterling K. Brown Says Randall And Beth Are ‘Not On The Same Page’ For Season 2

This Is Us could feature some trouble in paradise when the hit NBC drama picks up for its second season this fall—and not just because Jack and Rebecca (Milo Ventimiglia, Mandy Moore) decided to give their marriage “some air.” In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, This Is Us star Sterling K. Brown revealed that his character, Randall Pearson, could face some tension in his own marriage over his desire to adopt a child when the show returns for 18 new episodes starting in September.

This Is Us fans saw Randall undergo a major lifestyle change at the end of last season. The dad of two quit his lucrative job as a weather derivatives broker and then dropped the bombshell to his wife Beth (Susan Kelechi-Watson) that he thinks they should adopt a third child.

Brown, whose This Is Us character was adopted by the Pearsons after he was left as a baby at a fire station, told EW that he has heard from many adoptees who were in a similar situation to Randall, and they often have a “pay it forward” attitude about adoption. Sterling K. Brown’s TV wife said she “did not see” an adoption storyline coming for Randall and Beth, and she admitted she is not sure that her character will be on board.

“I know that Beth and Randall don’t feel exactly the same way about adoption,” Sterling K. Brown told EW.

“We pick up with them very much in the midst of making that decision — to move forward, not to move forward, how to move forward, if indeed they do. They are not on the same page, I can say that much.”

Watson added that the idea is not something her character had ever thought about and that she is still trying to “wrap her brain” around it. In fact, Watson points out that last season when Beth thought she might be pregnant, the mom of two breathed a sigh of relief when she found out it was a false alarm.

“I also think that she was not planning to have more kids, even when she thought that they were pregnant, she was really not that enthusiastic to take that on,” the This Is Us actress said of Beth and Randall. “And to not know the circumstances of that child or where they’re coming from and all of that — it’s a huge deal… I’m not sure how on board she can get.”

Still, both Brown and Watson admitted they are looking forward to some fireworks between their characters this season.

“It’s fun to see them be at odds about something,” Watson said.

Indeed, This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman says Beth and Randall’s marriage won’t be as “easy” as it was during the show’s first season—and it wasn’t all that easy, by the way, with Randall tracking down his dying biological father, William (Ron Cephas Jones), finding out his adoptive mom lied to him for 36 years, and having a nervous breakdown due to stress.

“We want to throw in some complications that don’t make it too easy and too cute for them all the time,” Fogelman said of the This is Us couple.

Take a look at the video below to see Sterling K. Brown on This Is Us.

This Is Us returns for Season 2 on Sept. 26 at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.

[Featured Image by Vince Bucci/Invision for the Television Academy/AP Images]